


Endear Me

by Saucy_Beans (QuillHeart)



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Alpha Galo, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Blowjobs, Bottom Lio Fotia, Breeding, Cuddling & Snuggling, Degredation Kink, Dirty Talk, Erotic Massage, First Dates, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Learning To Communicate, Learning to trust, Light BDSM, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Lio, Overcoming Trauma, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Praise Kink, Service Top Galo Thymos, Sexual Roleplay, Shower Sex, Size Kink, Slow Burn, Worldbuilding, but it's just a sex pollen thing, i guess??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:28:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 56,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23457841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuillHeart/pseuds/Saucy_Beans
Summary: Lio's going in to heat, and Galo's determined to give his crush a good time. He's prepared to be a perfect gentleman, making them breakfast and all that jazz, but Lio has a few kinks to throw into the would-be service top's romantic "get-to-know-you" weekend.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos, Past Lio Fotia/Gueira/Meis
Comments: 160
Kudos: 532





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Annie_lostintheforest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annie_lostintheforest/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This originally came as Annie_LostInTheForest's 2020 Chocolate Box Fic Exchange Prompt for Valentine's Day. I wasn't able to get it done in time, but I thought your prompts were so cute and cheery that you deserved something. I hope you like it! It'll have several chapters.
> 
> Prompts: Going on dates, bottom Lio, A/B/O with Omega Lio and Alpha Galo, Galo's big dick (lol) and the pleasure it brings, and/or Showering
> 
> This is my first a/b/o and it's all just for fluffy fun, but I hope you all like it anyway. <3 If there's anything you like or that stands out to you, let me know in a comment! I don't normally post explicit stuff, so it'll help me improve the subsequent chapters. :)

For Lio, encountering an Alpha close to one of his heats always went something like this:

The person, concentrating on whatever they were doing, slowly stilled. Their head would lift, _sniff sniff_ , and then their body would tense. A few moments later, they would inevitably decide to investigate, and slowly, the head would turn.

Eyes would look this way, that way, until they locked on Lio.

A deep breath. A flash of eyes. A lick of the lips and a shift of the hips. An awareness that this was not just a ready omega, but a _very pretty_ omega, one who was deliciously small.

It was so predictable that it never failed, and Lio hated every moment of it.

There were a lot of misconceptions about omegas, not the least of which was that they had to be paired up to be protected. That they belonged at home, with a family, tucked away and not bothering the hardworking alphas and betas. Lio would fight any alpha to the death and he would win, but he couldn’t hide the fact that he had heats and they turned him into a raving mess mewling on the floor, yearning to be painted in alpha scent and held down by a hot, sweating alpha body or two.

Some people tried to hide their status, with products and pills and convenient colds, but you could almost always tell anyway; you just didn’t say anything if they didn’t, and most of the time that just bread discrimination no one could openly combat.

A lot of managers still didn’t want to deal with it though, so in a lot of government work, there were omega-based squads. They were always ridiculed and belittled and had to work twice as hard as everyone else just to get by, but in the last few years, heat-based paid leave had become a thing, as had certain costs associated with dealing with it.

Being Burnish only worsened matters, though. Burning Rescue got called to quite a few incidents where Burnish omegas literally burned up when no one was there to temper their flames. They’d lock themselves away during a heat and get so hot they’d ignite spontaneously and either die or burn the place down. It set a whole new meaning to the term sex crime.

Too, Burnish omegas were said to be more sensitive in general, and alphas more intense, so they were fetishized and commoditized. Being a Burnish omega put a lot of forks in someone’s back.

So maybe, Lio shouldn’t have been so defensive when Galo had suddenly “remembered” he was an omega.

But he still was.

Galo had figured it out when they’d first met, or at least suspected it. it was part of why Lio had wanted Meis and Gueira to be there with him while getting locked up, because Vulcan and his ilk sure has hell had.

But here—a few months later during a visit to Burning Rescue, with Galo at the kitchenette, his back to Lio whilst making coffee—Lio saw those tell-tale signs again as he entered the room: Pause. Head tilting back, _sniff sniff_ , as if the entire rest of the world had fallen away.

And in Galo’s case, his already broad shoulders squared, and his upper half expanded visibly as his lungs filled with air. It was absolutely as enticing as it was intimidating.

But this time, rather than turn around and leer at him, Galo just hovered a second, wavered a little on his feet, then went back to stirring his coffee. “Oh yeah,” he mumbled to himself, pouring in the creamer. “I forgot.”

And then, sipping at his coffee, he went over to Ignis’s office, for whatever they were going to discuss. He didn’t even look at Lio.

Lio could have kissed him. But he probably shouldn’t be encouraging that sort of behavior. Not so close to a heat, anyway, and not with a guy he actually kind of liked.

* * *

“Hey, Galo,” Lio said, catching him in the hall after the meeting. Heads were turning, the alpha ones anyway, every time someone went by, and Lio pulled the man aside into one of the bunk rooms before the situation could get more awkward.

“What is it?” Galo trilled at him gently, a soft light in his eyes as he looked Lio over. With the proximity, he took in a deep breath through his nose and hummed contentedly, eyes fluttering shut like he was smelling a nice candle.

Lio huffed and whacked him on the shoulder, which honestly had no right being that meaty. “Focus. I need to talk to you about the next few days.”

Galo lit up like an eager lightbulb. “Yeah?” he asked, as Lio closed the door. Galo put his hands on his hips and cocked them to the side, watching him appraisingly as he moved.

“I’m gonna head out for a few days,” Lio stated, putting his back against the door and crossing his arms. “So, don’t wait up. Or…worry. Is all.”

Galo bit his lip. “Your…heat, right?” he asked, his innocent face a little hesitant.

It was a bit of an improper question, and Lio blinked in surprise. But it was what it was, he wasn’t a liar. He nodded, deciding to stare at his feet instead of Galo’s beautiful skin.

(He wasn’t sure why Galo’s tanned, clear skin was suddenly so interesting and attractive, why a vivid flash of licking a line up the muscle in his neck as he sat in his lap came to him, but his mouth was watering with the thought of it anyway.)

“Hah, knew it,” Galo boasted above his head, dispelling some of the heatwave that was threatening to overtake him.

“What? How?” Lio spat, glancing up sharply through his bangs.

“Could smell it on you, of course.” He flashed a proud, toothy grin, and gave Lio a friendly cuff on the shoulder. “You smell like roses and ripe red apples right now, bud.”

“God dammit,” Lio grumbled. “I’ve been _trying_ to suppress it.”

“But you’ve been suppressing it a few times, haven’t you?” Galo asked, getting out his concerned EMT voice and sniffing the air a couple of times subconsciosly. “It’s really strong, even though it’s subtle right now. It’s gonna be a rager.”

Lio took a deep breath—of Galo’s amber-like scent of dark honey, harvest grains, and the orange-laced bar soap he liked—and made a dissatisfied hum in his throat. Galo’s smile disappeared, wilting.

“Ah…sorry. I just mean, I get it,” Galo rushed out, holding out his hands, only to look off and slide one through his hair. Lio wished it were running over _himself_ , but he pushed it aside with effort. “You had a war to run,” Galo continued nervously. “Makes sense.”

“Well, and,” Lio rubbed the bridge of his nose with a sigh, memories of thin, rough hands coming to life on his hips and arms. “Last time, Meis and Gueira were a little enthusiastic and it lasted a few days, and—”

He trailed off abruptly, turning red; he could feel it burning his cheeks. Lio cracked his eyes open, only to find Galo still standing there, arms crossed, and looking entirely too impressed. Lio hid his gaze behind his hand, shutting off the view.

“Lio…” Galo sighed after a bit, his professional tone back. Lio could hear him shifting on his feet. “Can I make you an offer?”

Lio’s eyes widened as he stared at Galo’s very large shoes.

“How would you feel about spending your next heat…with me?”

There was a lump in Lio’s throat the size of melon. It had to be, because when he spoke, his voice was all squeaky.

“I—” He was suddenly all warm, and the heat filled his lungs. “I dunno…”

Galo’s pretty blue eyes shone like the summer sky, and his smile turned fond but understanding. “Hey, it’s okay. You can tell me the truth, I won’t be mad. Really.”

Lio chanced a glance at him, and the smile in his voice was indeed also in his eyes.

“Here’s the deal I want to make you.” He grinned perkily, showing off his pearly teeth. “How about I take you to dinner and you can come over to my place tonight. I want to show you how gentle I can be.”

Galo took Lio’s hand in his, gently sandwiching between his own. It was big and warm, and there was an immediate sense of safety in them. The calm radiated up Lio’s body, and he even sighed a little.

So Galo’s hands _were_ like that. Not everyone’s were. Now that he knew it, Lio instantly wanted his body to be kneaded in their warmth and then to fall asleep in their hold.

The realization made him blush; he could feel it crawl down his neck and brighten his chest until he was burning. Even though he looked away, his gaze came right back to the hand he so desperately wanted.

Galo could see—and smell—the thoughts going through the little omega’s head and he leaned in just a little, as if to catch the scent and an early kiss. Lio wanted to protest on that fact alone—he wasn’t easy dammit—but he was also…wanting to accept. Achingly so.

So he sighed, looked up into Galo’s eyes, and leaned ever so slightly closer to him, too.

What would it feel like, to have those rough-hewn hands on his shoulders, slipping down to his biceps to warm him before a kiss? What would they feel like on his waist, as Lio rolled his slender neck against the herculean muscle of Galo’s, picking up scent along the way?

It wasn’t like he hadn’t daydreamed about it: To watch this absolute specimen of a firefighter move above him in the soft blue light of the night, his thick form outlined in the quiet dim. The way his voice would turn husky and gentle as he leaned near in the dark; the way the bed would creak just slightly too, reminiscent of palm trees in the tropics at night when combined with his lover’s body heat and gentle sighs.

Or what it would feel like to finally have the world fall away because this man’s entire attention was on him, his excited blue eyes turned soft and heady. They would gaze half lidded over his form, commanding all of Lio’s attention as thick fingertips traced over his skin lovingly, on the way down his body. The jolt of excitement and fear that would come, as those hands that swung axes and saved lives at a moment’s noticed trailed slowly over his knees, only to hitch them over his shoulders. What parts of Lio would melt, as this man leaned in for a whisper and a kiss, Lio’s hands twined into his hair…

“O-okay,” he whispered, and Galo whooped in celebration that wasn’t at all upsetting despite its proximity. He swooped in and planted a happy peck on Lio’s cheek, then danced around briefly.

“You won’t regret it, I promise!” he vowed, once he’d found his words again. He flashed Lio a brilliant smile. “You’re much too precious to disappoint!”

Lio was still standing there with a tingling cheek, stunned into a warm and fluttering stupor, when Galo winked and finger-gunned him from the now-open doorway. “Pick you up at six!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Lio texts his two besties about his maybe-date. Digital chaos ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My gosh you guys, thank you for all the hits, comments, bookmarks, and word-of-mouth on this. The last 48 hours have held multiple massive blows for me (thanks financial crisis round two) and so it really means a lot. This has honestly been my hardest week in years.
> 
> Domestic fluff and romance fics are really are not my fortés but I hope you all enjoy my fumble through the genre anyway. Looks like the smut will start in ch 4. In the mean time, let's watch these adorkable bbys enjoy their sweet-and-saucy lives :')

_I think…I have a date…,_ Lio typed into his phone. He sat on the steps of BR Station Three, nestled into a windless alcove soaking up sun in the late afternoon Fall light. He stared at the words for a minute, then some passing birds, then considered the ellipses. He genuinely wanted to express his shock (the first ellipsis) and ask for input with a little bit of fishing (the second ellipsis), but. That was not for the leader of Mad Burnish, honorary though it was these days.

Lio glared at the screen, quickly erased the dots in their damnably tiny font, and then, against his better judgement, hit send.

He put the phone face-down on the stone between his spread feet and glared at a squirrel in a nearby tree until the group chat app buzzed.

Lio instantly swept up the phone and stared at the reply, inches from his face.

_Go Boss! Who is it?!_

Naturally, it was Gueira who’d written back first. He was a quick-draw in any situation, and it’d only been proved more often once they’d gotten proper civilian tech into his hands.

Three little fire emojis appeared on the screen, dancing along as a message to indicate Meis was typing.

 _Congrats. When is it?_ popped up not long after.

Lio smiled. Meis always _was_ the responsible mom among them. He considered what to say to them both. So far, so good. These were safe waters.

 _This evening,_ he wrote, and then, with a smirk stretching across his face that he couldn’t control, _You might just happen to know him._

Meis returned three dancing flames, that this time turned into three actual dots of text.

Gueira, meanwhile, just said, _Ooh, tell me, tell me!!_

Lio chuckled and ran his hand over his jaw. They were so predictable and he loved that about them; never in his life had he had such steady and yet incendiary pillars. They were like sodium and steel, each useful and dependable on their own, but when put together, they were explosive.

But it was a chaos that Lio enjoyed swirling around him as he sat at the eye of the storm. It was much nicer than the storms in his own mind tended to be.

Lio sat for a moment, enjoying the heat soaking into his skin, as he gazed at his surroundings: the fancy Art Deco brass-and-glass door, the figure of Aina just inside it, talking to someone. The birds on the TV wire twisting into the building far above. It was a nice day. He wasn’t sure why he felt he needed to tell these guys, but he really kinda… _wanted_ to. Maybe he was excited. Maybe even a little…proud? Is that what this feeling was, buzzing through his limbs and attention span?

When he looked back, he saw a few more messages. Meis, who went by the handle ObsidianFlame, continued to pour out ellipses of ever longer strings. Gueira, whose chat name was FireFeast, was slowly starting to understand, and couldn’t at all handle it, as expected. Lio, whose name was Magmalion, grinned as he scrolled.

[ObsidianFlame]: …

[ObsidianFlame]: ……….

[ObsidianFlame]: ……………..

[ObsidianFlame]: …………………………

[FireFeast]: Don’t hold out on us!!

Lio decided to take pity on them.

[Magmalion]: >:}

[ObsidianFlame]: …………oh my.

[FireFeast]: ???

[FireFeast]: ????????

[FireFeast]: C’mon, I must know!! who’s the hot piece of ass you have your eyes on, boss?!!!

[FireFeast]: *Boss

Lio chuckled.

[Magmalion]: Think less “ass” and more “biceps”

[Magmalion]: …and triceps.

Here, he added a thinking-face emoji for good measure.

[ObsidianFlame]: Heh heh. Finally! Good for you!! Did you ask him, or did he ask you??

[FireFeast]: He whooooo?!!

There was a decisive pause, as Lio was sure Gueira was accosting Meis in the flesh. Eventually, the dancing dots returned a digital paper airplane of sorts:

[ObsidianFlame]: I told him to think “big and blue.” Three…

[Magmalion]: Haha. Thank you, 'Dian.

[ObsidianFlame]: Two…

And then, in a flash, Gueira’s own little dancing flames reappeared.

[FireFeast]: …omg.

[ObsidianFlame]: One. Blastoff!

[FireFeast]: wait.

[FireFeast]: WAIT.

[FireFeast]: Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaifwraithwaifu

[FireFeast]: Firefighter Guy? IS IT FIREFIGHTER GUY????????

[Magmalion]: Maaaaaaaybe

[FireFeast]: !!!

[FireFeast]: !!!!!!!!!!!!

[FireFeast]: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Magmalion]: :D

[ObsidianFlame]: He’s over here exploding, it’s pretty funny.

[ObsidianFlame]: You should see his face. It’s all red.

Lio could imagine it vividly. Gueira dropping his phone for a bit to go on and on about one of his favorite subjects of late: Lio’s beefcake with a pension whom he claimed was both entirely too on the straight and narrow for Lio and also entirely into him. Lio hadn’t been too sure about all that, or if he even wanted to pursue it, but…it was hard to say no to Galo, not the least of which reason was the fluttery little flame being around him, and thinking of him, ignited in Lio’s chest.

[Magmalion]: I guess you were right, Gueira. He asked ME!

And then, because he was feeling charitable, he added:

[Magmalion]: <3 <3 <3

He stared at it, decided he didn’t like it, and shook his head out with a snort.

 _Tell anyone I sent that and you furniture your life,_ he wrote hastily.

He added a knife and fire emoji for emphasis. The knife might have been a bit much, but well. They were bad boys. They could handle it. They even kinda liked it, he had the feeling. Something about threats being manly challenges, or something. It was all very macho and he let them have it so long as they directed it away from him and his bleached cravat.

[ObsidianFlame]: …Do you mean forfeit?

[Magmalion]: FUCK

[FireFeast]: Hee hee

[ObsidianFlame]: It’s okay, we all do it. Embarrassed threat acknowledged.

[Magmalion]: >:(

[ObsidianFlame]: Pouty faces only work on boyfriends. ;)

[Magmalion]: He’s not my boyfriend! It’s just a heat hookup…

There was a decisive pause, and then the texts came rushing in, with narry time for the flames to dance before they were transforming into strings of text.

[ObsidianFlame]: Wait, I thought you said it was a date.

[Magmalion]: I said I *thought* it was a date.

(Lio did not use caps if the word was over four letters, that was just inelegant.)

[FireFeast]: :|||

[ObsidianFlame]: :///

[Magmalion]: what?

Lio could almost feel them look at each other, across town.

[ObsidianFlame]: …So what is this date gonna consist of, supposedly.

[FireFeast]: And you said it was tonight…that’s kinda sudden…

[Magmalion]: I dunno? He didn’t say, beyond dinner.

More unimpressed emojis came to him, including Meis’s Very Displeased one with the funny eyebrows.

[ObsidianFlame]: Listen, Boss. Dinner’s the absolute least that should be included in that.

[FireFeast]: nod nod nod

[ObsidianFlame]: if dinner’s all he offers you, you kick him in the nuts. Or call us to.

[FireFeast]: preferably both. I’ll do it too, just to see his face. David and goliath and all that.

Lio sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. _Guys…_ , he typed.

[ObsidianFlame]: I’m not gonna tell you what to do…you’re the boss. BUT.

[ObsidianFlame]: seriously, that better be some GOOD dinner.

[FireFeast]: >:EE!!

[FireFeast]: Every inch of you he disrespects, I’ll take an inch off him, if you get what I’m saying.

[Magmalion]: Feast, no.

[FireFeast]: I swear it boss, I will! Nobody disrepects our Boss!!

[Magmalion]: Feast, NO. DOWN BOY.

 _Fuck, caps._ Lio glared at the screen. _Look what you made me do, Gueira_ , he wrote. _Caps. Hissssss._

 _…Sorry Boss_ , Gueira wrote back, seemingly somewhat cowed.

 _Hate to ask,_ Meis broke in, _but you’re going into heat, right?_

[FireFeast]: !!!

[ObsidianFlame]: It’s about that time, is all, if I remember correctly.

[FireFeast]: …

[ObsidianFlame]: You’re sure he’s not just taking advantage of that?

[Magmalion]: He wouldn’t do that.

He was incredibly quick to type his response. So quick it surprised Lio a little once he read over what he himself had written.

[FireFeast]: ……

[ObsidianFlame]: just making sure. I trust your judgement. You’re our cute little omega and we have to protect you, after all~ ;)

[Magmalion]: pfft :P

[FireFeast]: …………

[ObsidianFlame]: But if it doesn’t work out, come stay with us, yeah? We’ll take care of you.

Lio almost laughed.

[Magmalion]: I don’t need all those bruises now that I can’t heal as fast. ;)

[ObsidianFlame]: you seemed to like it at the time?

[Magmalion]: >.>

[Magmalion]: <.<

[Magmalion]: >.>…

It wasn’t like he could say “you’re just too much for me.” Certainly not. He’d never get his cred back.

[FireFeast]: ……………………

[Magmalion]: What, Feast.

[FireFeast]: I’ve lost you to a bigger dick, haven’t I? T_T

Lio laughed out loud. He was grinning as he typed, all the tension evaporating. _We’ll see. Wish me luck. That’s all I wanted to say really. I have all these funny feelings right now._

Lio stared at it after the fact. That didn’t sound at all like him did it? He wondered if they’d notice. If they _did_ , it ended up making them a little kinder, and Lio shuffled that knowledge away for later.

[ObsidianFlame]: Good funny?

[Magmalion]: All fluttery. Kinda nervous. But it could be fun, right? I’m excited too. His arms are just so goddamned big, and he smells nice, and his smile…

Lio sighed.

[Magmalion]: I like looking at him when he smiles. I feel like everything’s okay when he smiles at me. I want to know what’s like to be wrapped in his arms…

He paused, feeling his heart ache, and surprisingly, they waited patiently for him as he hovered with his fingers over the keyboard.

[Magmalion]: …Is that weird?

[ObsidianFlame]: >_>

[FireFeast]: <__<

[Magmalion]: …What.

[ObsidianFlame]: >____>

[FireFeast]: <_____<

[Magmalion]: *glare*

[ObsidianFlame]: f>,>

[FireFeast]: 9,9h

[Magmalion]: *Leader voice* AHEM

[ObsidianFlame]: …You wanna say it?

[FireFeast]: can I can I?

[ObsidianFlame]: It’s always nice to feel noticed, boss. That’s true. But I’m afraid…

[FireFeast]: ...YOU’VE GOT IT BAD. Like, SO bad. Super, TOTALLY, UTTERLY INSANELY BAD.

[FireFeast]: For a firefighter no less! >:P

[FireFeast]: How far you’ve fallen! Right into the hands of the enemy!

[ObsidianFlame]: Whatever shall we do with our Boss gone so astray??

Lio stared at his phone. There was only one answer to this. He typed out a fire emoji, and sent nothing but that.

[FireFeast]: Ahahaha!

[ObsidianFlame]: That’s our boss!

[Magmalion]: you guys…smh

[FireFeast]: Better than smd. Or is it?

[Magma]: Excuse me?

[ObsidianFlame]: the d means dick.

[ObsidianFlame]: and by “my” I think he means “yours.” SYD. At G-man, presumably.

[Magmalion]: omg

[Magmalion]: I just. I don’t even know what to say to that.

[ObsidianFlame]: oh ho, America wins against the British Invasion once more

[Magmalion]: What’s left of America, I suppose :/

[ObsidianFlame]: Eh. It was due for a revolution or three. This is honestly an improvement, from what I understand.

[FireFeast]: [Sniffle] Little Boss is all grown up and leaving our nest… T0T

[Magmalion]: Your sex nest x’D

[FireFeast]: You know it!! The sexiest sex nest that ever…sexted? No, that’s not right. Uh…

[Magmalion]: Please, by all means, bastardize the language further and see what punishment awaits you.

He sent a fire emoji and the flexing-arm emoji.

[FireFeast]: O.o

[Magmalion]: (ﾉ=__=)ﾉ*✲ﾟ*｡⋆ [flame] [flame] [flame] -> [sparkle] [flame] O.o [flame] [sparkle]

[FireFeast]: stands in awe

[FireFeast]: bows

[FireFeast]: and

[FireFeast]: o.O ---[ ]- [flame] [flame]

[FireFeast]: It’s roasting a marshmallow

[FireFeast]: very carefully, of course.

[Magmalion]: omg

[ObsidianFlame]: wow...

[ObsidianFlame]: but you know what.

[ObsidianFlame]: [flame] [flame] --[ ]--------V_V

[ObsidianFlame]: ...I'll join you.

[FireFeast]: Don't think you're better than me just cuz you're sticks longer.

[ObsidianFlame]: what I can't hear you over this gorgeous flame, Gorgeous.

[FireFeast]: -___-

[Magmalion]: you know…

[Magmalion]: I’ve never had a marshmallow.

[FireFeast]: holy SHiT DUED

[FireFeast]: I’ve failed you as a parent omgggg

[FireFeast]: Where did I go wrong T__T

[Magmalion]: At marshmallows, apparently?

[FireFeast]: sob.

[ObsidianFlame]: Um, in all seriousness though.

[Magmalion]: yes?

[ObsidianFlame]: Heats are better with someone you’re attracted to.

While Lio was mulling this over, Gueira managed to rally his game face as well:

[FireFeast]: Yeah. And it’s a good mark in his book that he got up the nerve to ask you. You deserve someone who can do that.

Lio let that settle in, all the shy heat in his cheeks and warm fuzzies in his chest, until another thought invaded. He bit his lip as he typed.

[Magmalion]: You guys aren't...jealous, right?

[FireFeast]: Pfft. Of him? Some NORMIE with an ELECTRIC STOVE???

[ObsidianFlame]: No. Enjoy your date, boss. =]

[FireFeast]: (But share the deets okay?)

[ObsidianFlame]: Feast, no!

There was a pause, and then:

[ObsidianFlame]: I whapped him for you.

[Magmalion]: heh…….not jealous at all, huh?...

[FireFeast]: I’m scientifically curious!! If he’s got any moves I don’t, I gotta acquire them! Like pokemon!

[ObsidianFlame]: …

[Magmalion]: …

[Magmalion]: I’ve never played pokemon.

[FireFeast]: lskdfhglkjdglkjfljlhnnlkcdkhfljhrlkj

[FireFeast]: he’s done it. I’m dead. I’m just…dead.

[ObsidianFlame]: there there. He grew up deprived, but you did your best.

[Magmalion]: Deprived AND depraved. ;)

[FireFeast]: T0T

[FireFeast]: I’ll give you a second childhood someday, boss!

[Magmalion]: Right. Right after I’m done riding my date into next week.

[Magmalion]: Though I guess he’ll be riding me, if we're being honest… [thinking face]

[FireFeast]: XoX

[Magmalion]: ...So I guess that means you're gonna be slapping my ass while I call you daddy?

[FireFeast]: CHOKES

[FireFeast]: GURGLES

[FireFeast]:HRRRRNG--

[Magmalion]: I'll even dress in that frilly loli lace you like so much, cuz I'm a good girl, right?~

[ObsidianFlame]: He’s foaming at the mouth…

[FireFeast]: X___________X

[ObsidianFlame]: He dropped his phone...

[Magmalion]: bury him with honors :*

[ObsidianFlame]: Roger that.

Even as he smiled, Lio sighed, and soon found himself hanging his head and pressing the top of his phone to his forehead for support. The responses were silent, but slowly, Lio found himself opening a one-on-one tab and writing something to Meis.

[Magmalion]: Hey...

[ObsidianFlame]: Yeah?

The response came fairly quickly, but for Lio, it felt like it took an eternity to get his reply out.

[Magmalion]: This is something I can be happy about, right?

[Obsidian Flame]: Of course?

[Magmalion]: It's not, like...I dunno. Betraying the cause?

Lio held his breath as he stared at the phone. He didn't know why making decisions like this had become so hard, once he'd lost his flame. Maybe it was how physically vulernable he felt now. Maybe it was the fact that nothing seemed clear within the confining walls of the city. Maybe it was because he didn't have to fight and rage just to survive anymore, and he had no idea how to adjust to that. But it had reduced him to this--desperately staring at a phone, fishing for support as he sat on the stairs of a munincipal building, mulling over every once of body and scent signal he'd taken in from Galo.

[ObsidianFlame]: [ruffles your hair] No, Boss. That's the dream.

Lio covered his mouth with a hand as the words struck him. Meis was right. That was the dream, wasn't it? Not a place where burnish could live by themselves, unmolested, but the original dream--to be accepted into society at large, and not have to start over at all. To just be...a little different, but mostly normal, too. To have everything that human experience had to offer, and then some.

[ObsidianFlame]: In case it didn't come across, I'm proud of you. We both are. You deserve some happiness, even if it's just a good servicing from a hot himbo with a pension plan as sexy as his scent.

[Magmalion]: Hah! x'D

[ObsidianFlame]: I gotta take care of Feast for a bit, he ran into a table pretty hard. But.

[ObsidianFlame]: Don't be afraid to lean into the heart emojis and smiley faces a little, eh? Omegas deserve as much fun in the sack as anyone, no strings attached. Hope you get whatever you're hoping for out of it and him. Go wild, we will stll respect and adore you afterward. (And really. We won't be asking any questions you can't handle. I promise.)

[ObsidianFlame]: And hey, maybe we can invite G-man over sometime for dinner and get to know him better, if you think he's a keeper. Lord knows we're all a bunch of sticks and could use a guy like that around.

[Magmalion]:Thanks, man. I mean it.

[ObsidianFlame]: Take care.

[Magmalion]: Will do.

Luckily, they were saved from further rounds of goodbyes by another message popping up on Lio's screen. It was from Galo.

Once they were able to get Galo to install some government-disapproved tech on his phone, he picked SuperHikeshi as his chat name, which the others gave him no end of crap about. But in Lio’s phone, his number was simply listed as “Blue Flame.” He smiled when he saw it floating above the incoming text.

_All set! Where you at, rose-bud? ;D_

Lio smiled, a warmth bubbling up from deep inside his chest, one that had nothing to do with the magical flame he’d once wielded. It was nice to feel it again, something so similar, all from this burning star who’d decided to shine upon him.

_Out front, in the smoker’s nook. I’m all ready!_

Huh, Lio thought, _He got an exclamation point out of me._

 _Hah! Fitting,_ Galo wrote back almost immediately, giving him no time to dwell on it. _Because you’re smoking hot ;)_

Lio snorted. _If you don’t stop texting me, you’ll never find me, and I’ll vanish like the smoke you love to chase so much._

_No don’t leave!! I’ll be right there! No burning out till I get there!!!!_

Lio took a steadying breath and navigated back to his chat app, which was, as a tool of Burnish liberation, called _BurnBuddies._

 _It’s time to go_ , he typed in. _Thank you for last time, I just wanted to give this a try with him. I don’t think you have anything to worry about. He called me “Too precious to disappoint.” That’s a good first step, right?_

It took a moment, but a slew of messages came at him then, all variations of “awwww,” heart emojis, and “YES.”

 _If that’s what he starts with,_ Meis eventually wrote, _you will likely enjoy what he ends with._

 _Let’s just hope he’s not a virgin,_ Gueira quipped.

 _Even so,_ Meis declared. _Enjoy your weekend and call if you need us. Always ready with a ride and a fist for you, Boss._

 _Hah!_ Lio retorted. _I’m going to assume you mean that in the non-sexual way…_

 _Dkfslhghkglkj,_ Meis wrote back.

 _Don’t forget to practice safe sex!_ Gueira added, so helpfully.

Lio replied with a knife emoji.

 _S-sorry…,_ Gueira wrote.

Lio sent back a slice of cake. For the knife.

_I h-humbly accept…_

Lio sent back an ascii kiss, and then pocketed his phone. He laughed and sighed into his hands, trying to push away the nerves and the images both. He couldn’t stop thinking of Galo in ways that made his mouth water, superimposing him in the place of others from previous times, and imagining even beyond that. As succulent as it was, it was also unfortunate, because he wanted a real date with the man, even if a hookup was all he was going to be able to think about tonight at dinner.

It wasn’t that staycation hookups were taboo by societal standards, it was just that heat buddies tended to be just that, more often than not. He didn’t want Galo to think he was easy or anything. Hell, Galo probably had people asking him all the time, he was such a specimen. And knowing him, he probably said yes just to be nice to people.

Lio hid his face in his hands as the blush creeped over his cheeks, thinking about all the experience the man probably had. It was much too easy to vividly picture it, thanks to his oncoming heat: The way his hand wrapped in someone’s hair from behind. The way his abs would shine with sweat as they rippled, the way his head bent down and brow knit as he concentrated on giving his partner pleasure…

Lio sighed haggardly to get the images out, head drooping, and shifted his hips a little were he sat.

_I hope I’m doing the right thing..._

To be honest, he had such a crush on the bubbly firefighter that he didn’t _want_ to spend his heat with anybody else. It was just unfortunate that that was also the first time they were having a real date, too. If that was what it even was.

Lio was used to living and loving on the run. In the desert, fighting a war, you never knew when you’d meet another person that meant something to you, and you never knew when they’d be taken away, either. People could die at a moment’s notice—in a raid, in an accident, from sickness, starvation, or even animals. So he was used to approaching people fast, making clear what he wanted, and if it transformed into something else, great. If it didn’t, at least they’d have had those few hours or days together.

He was used to blazing with other burnish, and then rebuilding on the stone foundation or concrete slab that remained, if anything remained at all. He wasn’t sure what would be left with Galo, after this.

Lio knew what he liked. He knew what he wanted. But he had no idea how to take it slow, despite doing his best in the last few months in the city. But it seemed that, perhaps, he had waited too long, and Galo was ready to make his move in Lio’s place.

So now Lio sat there on the sunny marble, mulling over the rise and fall of his hopes and dreams and hormones, until he heard the front door of the station open and shut. A few moments later, the cool burn of a shadow fell over him, but a hand even warmer than the sun‘s rays came down onto his shoulder. It was heavy and tender, squeezing just enough to be steadying.

When he looked up, he found Galo’s reassuring smile gazing down at him fondly. “Doing okay?”

That look was so sincere it couldn’t have held an ounce of obfuscation in it. Lio wanted to cherish it, since he was being gifted with its presence. But Galo was not Burnish; would he understand what Lio had to give?

Either way, Lio wanted to try. So he just smiled defeatedly and set a hand on Galo’s. The man seemed to still a bit at it, entranced by the thin fingers lain in the grooves of his knuckles.

“How could I ever burn out, with you here to fan my flames?”

The blush that spread across Galo’s face was so deep he could have been mistaken for the Rescuemobile.

With a warm smile, Lio stood up and dusted himself off. “I’m excited to see what you have in mind,” he said honestly, offering his hand. “Take me away, my bright blue flame.” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because of the volcano, frozen lake, forest, and desert, geographically, there's only two places that I know of in the continental US that it makes sense for Promare the city to be: Washington State, or the Phoenix/Flagstaff area. I picked Flagstaff for this fic. About 45 min north of Flagstaff there's a big lake (in a meteor crater?) sitting in a forest by a semi-dormant volcano, and the very cool Petrified Forest and a thousand miles of desert lies to the northeast of town. Flagstaff also has the Lowell Observatory, where Pluto was discovered! It's open to the public. 
> 
> Don't forget to support your museums, libraries, and national parks during economic downturns, they depend on your patronage and lobbying to survive!
> 
> Strap in, this is an 8000-word chapter!

_The dream_ , Lio found himself thinking, as he walked down the street side by side with Galo. It was a charming street, a historic district with small brick shops, narrow lanes, inviting benches, and flower baskets overflowing with color hanging from Gaslamp-style posts. Lio felt something inside him ache to be in such a postcard, especially with a wonderful man next to him.

As they moved out of the way of various other groups on the narrow sidewalk, their arms kept brushing together, sending jolts of heat down Lio’s body. Lio would stare at Galo’s hand, Galo would stare at Lio’s face, and then they’d go back to walking, dodging planters, people, and sidewalk signboards with swirling font. The cycle had repeated so many times Lio was starting to feel dizzy wondering who would make the leap and hold hands first.

The pizza, it turned out, had been just as good as Galo’s usual haunt. The restaurant was a local brick-oven neighborhood joint, with checkered tablecloths and bistro-style seating and all the warmth of the fires. The owner was nice and Galo was on a first-name basis with him; he’d taken the time introduce Lio to everyone there. Galo had tipped well, smiled his big, friendly smile for the staff, and even offered to help when things went wrong for another table, entertaining the child there with counting and alphabet songs while her mother had to take an emergency call. Lio liked the place and all its people already, and had joined in the parenting.

Eventually, they’d both leaned over the back of the booth and helped the little girl. At the end of the second song, Lio finished the song to find Galo staring at him strangely. There was an unfamiliar look in his eyes, oddly grief-stricken, at the end of which he’d leaned in and given Lio a sweet peck on the cheek.

The little girl had giggled and pronounced it all “gross.” She decided to go back to her coloring book, fat crayons in hand and humming a nameless tune. Galo, meanwhile, decided to head to the restroom. Lio had just turned bright red and hunkered down in their booth, waiting for him to get back and wondering if that look would still be there and what he might say about it if it was.

Truthfully, Lio had spent a good chunk of the meal realizing how much he liked to gaze into Galo’s pretty blue eyes as he talked, and how much he liked hearing Galo babble on about science and history and his hopes and dreams, to say nothing of his coworkers’ drama. He was so open about everything, in a way Lio had lost, if he’d ever had it to begin with. Lio knew what he wanted as far as the world order. He had no idea what he wanted as far as his own life, let alone pizza toppings. Galo was entirely the opposite, and it was healing, in some strange and flattering way, to wind him up and watch him go on nothing but the power of his own heart.

Galo was ridiculously buff, so it was clear he was healthy in body as well as mind; he was what the psychologists would call “thriving.” Part of Lio craved that for himself. Whether Galo would be the fertile soil or the sheltering tree, though, he didn’t yet know.

But there were glimpses of softness that Lio would see too, when Galo would be surprised that someone was genuinely listening to him and was willing to engage his ideas deeply. He had practically lit up when Lio had mentioned, off-hand, that he was clearly very smart and good at learning and could take pride in spending all the time he had in researching his interests.

And then there was the way Galo would handle objects. The gentle twirl of a fork. The smooth drape as he leaned his chin in his hand. The easy, kindly smile that radiated all over him, but especially in his mouth and eyes. The dichotomy was driving Lio wild and he wasn’t really sure why. Something about good father instincts, he supposed. The Alpha that could both defend a territory and take care of little scraped knees.

So, just as he suspected would happen at dinner, whenever he had a spike of hormones flare up in his body, which was happening briefly about once an hour now, he found his mouth watering. He’d lose all track of Galo’s conversation and get flashes of wanting the man’s hands all over him instead, marking and claiming and holding him down in all sorts of wanton scenarios. He went weak at the idea of tasting the salt on Galo’s skin. And, even moreso, he’d lose himself in the vision of Galo snuggling him afterwards, whispering in his ear about breeding him until they had a bigger family together.

Lio might _also_ have been a little drunk by then, because they offered both wine and beer here to compliment their food. Galo was clearly noticing the flare-ups, because he’d pause what he was doing mid-sentence and take a deep breath, his eyes fluttering shut. He was trying to be polite about it and not say anything, but he was clearly getting hit with pheromones that were calling to him, and then trying to finish his bite of pizza after a moment.

“S-sorry,” Lio said, the second time this happened. He shook his head out. “I just…ah. _Hm_.”

He stared at the table, his cheeks turning red and legs fidgeting.

“No worries,” Galo tossed back amiably. “It’s not like you can control it. But…” he leaned forward conspiratorily and waggled his eyebrows, putting that massive arm on the table for all to see. “Were you thinking about meeee?”

Lio sucked in a deep breath, and then coyly ran his fingertips over Galo’s forearm. The amount of muscle there was just delectable, and it was turning on something in Lio’s primordial brain that went straight to his crotch. “Maaaaybe.”

“Hee.” Galo grinned and flexed under Lio’s hand. Lio giggled in return, a little drunkenly. He was amazing.

“I suppose we should talk about it, huh? What we…might want, out of the weekend.”

Galo glanced at Lio, then took his hand in his. It was big and steady, and to be enveloped in it somehow made all the food-based scents refine into his soothing, protective Alpha one. It smelled a little like the sweet red wines in the restaurant, but with the smooth, subtle tang of whiskey underneath.

“I want you to have a good time, where you feel safe and happy,” Galo said gently, stroking a thumb over Lio’s delicate fingers. “I want you to trust me, and maybe lose yourself in the experience. I want your heat to be a good memory, not a bad one. That’d be the biggest compliment for me.”

Lio blushed, a terrible, guilty kind. Galo had no idea how much he wanted that, too.

“I’d like that,” he whispered. “But. I have a confession.”

“Mm?” Galo agreed.

“I…” Lio looked off and ran his free hand over his face. He tried to focus on Galo’s touch, but it was hard. He ended up staring at his familiar fingers. “I only like it if it's kinky,” he finally whispered hoarsely.

There was a long pause, filled with the sounds of the restaurant: laughing, joking, gossiping. Dishes clinking and the roar of flames. The cash register going. And then:

“Neeheeheeheehee.”

Galo’s giggling added to the air.

Lio pulled back defensively. “Wh-what?” he asked, folding his arms petulantly.

“Nothing, nothing,” Galo assured, hiding his bright red face behind both hands. “I’m excited. Thank you for telling me, that helps a lot!”

Lio glared at him dubiously, but Galo’s eyes were an intense and almost predatory blue when he curled his fingers down, so that only his mouth and cheeks were hidden, his chin rested on his palms. He looked Lio up and down, and it was entirely clear he was undressing Lio with his eyes—and _making plans about it_.

“It’s just…I expect that from smart people like you. And I’m so glad you don’t disappoint. Cuz I’m so ready, but I haven’t really gotten to with anyone else before.”

Lio sputtered. Galo? Hadn’t…?

“What, you think I’m not smart enough to enjoy that sort of thing?” Galo teased.

“N-no! It’s not that! It’s just—!” Lio’s face burned with shame, and he wasn’t sure what he was more embarrassed to admit, what he was thinking about Galo, or about himself:

… _You don’t seem broken enough for that_.

As Lio’s gaze flicked away and back again, Galo waited, eyebrows raised in challenge. Lio cleared his throat and tried valiantly to rally. “You…um.” He took a breath, drawing in his leader’s aura, and squared his shoulders to finish off the image. “Seem very straight-laced, is all.”

A chuckle bubbled up out of his table mate.

“What?” Lio asked suspiciously.

“Well,” Galo admitted, his posture turning back to a loose one, one hand falling to the table and the other rising to support his chin with a curled fist. “Blue mowhawk and future tattoos notwithstanding, I guess I am. My girlfriends in high school certainly were. But my fantasies definitely aren’t. And they never have been.”

Lio’s eyes widened. Galo winked.

“Buh…but you _have_ done this before, right?” Lio asked, turning pale.

Galo blinked at him, his mental hamster wheel clearly busted.

“OF COURSE?!” he screeched. “I’ve even done it for my _job_!!”

The statement died in the woosh of the nearby pizza oven’s fire, as if it had been absorbed into the flame. Lio stared with a startled snort. Galo paled.

“W-well! I mean! You know—!” he said, sliding down into his seat self-consciously. “It happens?! Especially with Burnish girls!”

Lio, not at all to his credit, started laughing hysterically, too speechless to form a coherent response.

“Wh-what!”

“You telling me you fetishize the Burnish, Galo? Is that all this invite was?”

Galo held up his hands, quickly waving them in the air. “No! Not at all! That is _not_ what I said! That is absolutely _not_ why I’m here, you gotta believe me—!”

“Oh, Galo, you’re skating on thin ice here,” Lio continued to laugh, half a sob at this point. “But I suppose it’s good to know I have a _professional_ to assist me!”

“Look here you, it’s a dangerous situation and they always thanked me afterwards. Overheating Burnish are no joke!”

“Well now you _have_ to tell me,” Lio quipped, when he finally caught his breath. “What does the manual say about Rescue Sex with the rookie, Thymos? What techniques and toys are you allowed to use? Did anyone need to call you Daddy? Oh, oh! I know. Did you have to write a report about the efficacy of various positions?”

Galo hid his face in his hands with a groan, blue hair flopping over the top of his soda glass. “It’s not like that and you know it.”

Lio came forward with his chin in his hands and a toothy grin on his face. He set himself up inches from Galo’s head and purred. “Which positions did you like best, hmm?” Lio whispered, so that only they could hear. “I’d like to read _that_ report, for sure.”

Under the table, Lio’s ankles rolled against Galo’s. When the man didn’t respond, Lio found himself biting the tip of his blue mane, tugging on it with a tilt of his head.

When Galo looked up balefully, Lio winked, and Galo faceplanted onto the table with a haggard sigh.

Luckily, the sugar biscuits came then, leaving them both plenty of fluffy buns to stare at that weren’t each other’s. Lio still gave Galo’s amazing shoulders a friendly rub for good measure though.

Once they had finished their dinner, it was Lio who finally took Galo’s hand. He slipped his fingers down through Galo’s palm while he was talking at the register, and then squeezed. Galo, bashful and happy, squeezed it back.

Lio of course squeezed it back more, and Galo returned this, and pretty soon they were having a very odd arm wrestling match below the counter and laughing breathlessly when Lio finally caved.

As his prize, Galo kissed Lio’s hand, twirled him around with it over the tile, and took them outside—with one of the restaurant workers distantly cheering Galo on from inside. “Care to amble for a bit? Walk off the alcohol?” Galo asked brightly.

“Sure!” Lio chirped, enjoying just having his hand held with his literal crush as they walked down the quaint street full of happy young people and artsy old folks.

As it turned out, this evening was a monthly gallery walk. All the shops in the neighborhood were open, with special catering and prices and even lectures. When they’d find a shop to go in, there’d inevitably be all kinds of cheese and wine. Lio, who had gone hungry most nights of his life, couldn’t help but feast, and without the Promare to burn off the alcohol in his system or warm him against the chill night, he just _might_ have gotten what Gueira and Meis would call “sloshed,” and addicted to the warmth of Galo’s skin.

Sadly, or perhaps happily depending on the perspective, Lio’s drunken situation did not improve as they hopped into and out of a dozen specialty shops full of finely made trinkets, crafts, artworks, and home goods. The warm amber lights from each storefront spilled onto the narrow brick sidewalks, the sounds of joyous people coming out with it. They spent an especially long time in one of the junk-style antique shops, where clever furniture was made from random repurposed parts, wood and metal alike.

Galo oogled over the craftsmanship, and though Lio didn’t understand it, he could appreciate the aesthetic and utility of the pieces, and the joy of the hunt. Lio couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such wholesome fun, pointing out wonderous whirligigs and ridiculously frightening porcelain things that should have been destroyed in the Great Blaze if there were any justice. It offered a great way to get to know Galo’s tastes better too, learning that he was into tinkering with things, but only if there was some utility that could be brought form it. And which materials he was good with. Apparently he was wowed by glasswork but had no knack or skill for it.

“I’m not afraid of the heat, of course! And it looks so cool being done in pairs!” he had said, “But I’m not a chemist, and I can’t do the most delicate work. I leave that to Lucia and her tiny hands and maniacal electrical engineering.”

Kray, Lio noted, was a chemist. A biomedical engineering one, to be specific, who was very good with meticulously fine details.

Perhaps that realization was why Lio felt all the more intent on keeping Galo cheerful. Inhibitions forgotten, he brought strange and magical things to his date, and they twittered over it endlessly, between joyful laughs, ungentlemanly scorn, and delicious cheese cubes.

But the hunt brought Lio to understand his own tastes a little better, too. He’d been living in caves and abandoned buildings most of his life, and certainly all of his life beyond childhood, so it wasn’t like he’d paid much attention to decoration. He was lucky he could dress himself decently, seeing as how he’d rarely had a mirror. But as he wandered through the stores, he gravitated to calming colors and shapes for furniture, and bright, busy pieces reminiscent of the Promare for lawn ornaments and art.

Lio’s Achilles heel turned out to be the funky lighting store. The place was full of nothing but lamps and candles and chandeliers, and he was lost to the dazzle. The place was visually so noisy it felt like being in a cloud of his old fire. Galo spent some time chatting with the proprietor about the history of stained glass lamps, and by the time he was done, he caught Lio staring at a rainbow chandelier, neck craned back, eyes wide open like he was communing with nature—or high.

“You okay there buddy?” Galo asked, coming near. Lio could feel his heat, taste his scent, and he closed his eyes, wanting to be wrapped in it.

“Of course.”

“Y…you sure? You’re kinda…zoning out there. You need to sit?”

Lio raised his arms carefully, palpably remembering the weight of the fire he’d once held. “I’m sure.”

Galo looked around, and then must have suddenly understood, because he made a little noise of awareness. And then, a moment later, heat was spilling onto Lio’s palm.

He opened his eyes, startled. Galo had apparently breathed on his skin, making it hotter.

Blue eyes catching a thousand lights locked with his own, asking for permission. When Lio did nothing but stare, Galo slowly kissed his palm, never blinking, never looking away.

Lio blushed furiously, and let himself be lead out of the store before he fainted and knocked something over.

They ended up on the next street over, in an urban park. Lio sat on a sandstone cube, bare feet dangling into a shallow, river-like water feature that ran the length of the block in and out of various levels and sizes of sandstone slabs. Galo was standing on another block, one that rose slightly above the others, doing judo grabs. There were others nearby, but it was late enough that all the children had been taken home, and everyone else was just distant enough that each couple had their privacy. The frisky feel of seasons changing hit Lio as he watched the trees, made dark by the night, shimmer in the crisp breeze.

“So what now?” he asked, gazing over Galo’s form. He bit his lip, thinking about how he wanted to be thrown down into soft sheets by those incredible hands and their powerful grip strength.

“Well!” Galo said, eyes intense as he held out two tiger claws at an invisible enemy. “The shops’ll close down in about half an hour. We could go back to my place, if you wanted. Could catch a late movie too, or hit up a few bars. Orrrrr…” He paused and struck a pose for Lio, hands on his hips. “We could go to a special place I’ve saved just for you.”

“Oh yeah?” Despite it all, a delighted grin pulled across Lio’s face. “You’ve got a grand finale for me?”

“Of course!” Galo said, finger in the air. “Only the best for my Burnish buddy!”

Lio shook his head, going back to splashing the water with his feet. It was cold, but he was feeling awfully hot. The shock of clarity felt good. As did…the chance to play. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done something so simple as play in puddle. But it felt so…wholesome. There wasn’t an ounce of guilt or shame or pain. Just…raw human happiness?

Maybe life in the city wasn’t all bad after all, if Galo was in it.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” Galo asked, coming down next to him. He plunked himself on the sandstone bench-block as well, his likewise bare feet splashing into the water. “Ah! Cold?!”

“Yup,” Lio chuckled, smiling to himself. Once Galo stopped flailing, his foot snuck over to Galo’s, petting the top with his curled toes. The difference in size between them was rather charming.

“I thought you didn’t like the cold?”

“I do and I don’t. Cold feels like death, to a Burnish.” He tilted his head, leaning on Galo’s warm arm. “But it also feels like a reason to burn.”

When he was cold and drunk like this, Lio never wanted to leave the sweet nooks he found in Galo’s side, which he tucked so easily into. The man’s big muscles made him so very warm, like a beacon for Lio’s fluttering moth of a spirit. He twined around his bulging bicep, offering an enticing purr for the pleasure, and then a contented coo when Galo stroked his hair.

“What do you want to get out of this weekend, Galo? Is it really just to make me happy?”

“Well sure,” Galo said, hand stilling.

“You don’t want to get off yourself? Feel all dominant and whatever?”

“Well that too,” Galo admitted, his hand coming to rest lightly on Lio’s neck. “It’s a nice perk of a job well done.”

“You don’t just want to be able to brag about it to your friends? That you bagged this pretty Burnish? That you subdued the leader of the resistance with your dick?”

To his surprise, Galo drummed his fingers on Lio’s skin and then asked, “Do you think so little of me, Lio?”

Lio shrugged against him. “No,” he admitted quietly after he thought about it for a second. He didn’t think that little of him. He thought much more of him. He just wasn’t sure where he himself fit into the picture of all that was almost perfect, untraumatized Galo Thymos.

“You sound scared,” Galo stated quietly. “Are you scared?”

Lio continued to gaze at the water, shining under the streetlamps as it trickled over their feet. With a breath, he twined his hand within Galo’s nearest one.

“I hope you understand that when I’m deep in heat, it’s not really me,” he explained eventually. “It’s not like, some ‘real me’ or some ‘base me’ upon which everything else is produced. It’s just… It’s not even some secret me you get to own forever after. It’s just…a part of me, I’m sharing with you, and I trust you not to use it against me later. Okay?”

Galo was quiet. He shifted his position, and just when Lio was afraid he was going to pull away, he ended up wrapping a big arm around Lio’s slender shoulders and drawing him into his side. It was warm, so very warm, full of a protective Alpha pheromones and Lio wanted to stay there forever, if only people weren’t so predictably cruel and flawed.

“What happened to you, Lio?” Galo whispered gently into his hair.

_Freeze force happened to me. Older Burnish happened to me. Men in labcoats and my friends’ pimps happened to me, before I knew any better. Before I was strong enough to fight them all off._

The familiar emotionally dead feeling came over him, and Lio sighed, closing his eyes.

“People happened to me.”

_And now I don’t even have the fire to protect myself._

“But now…” he went on, the words coming out of him without his permission, “I can’t fight back, if I change my mind.”

“Oh Lio,” Galo breathed, which were the two most damning words in existence when placed together. Lio sighed, hiding his eyes in the folds of Galo’s jacket. Galo, for his part, just turned and pulled his friend into him, so no one would hear him cry. “I promise not to do anything to make you sad.”

It didn’t really help muffle the wailing, but Lio appreciated it anyway.

“I’m sorry,” Lio admitted as they were walking to Galo’s bike in the car park. “This has been so nice, and yet I broke down and inadvertently accused you of all this stuff, and then cried on top of it. You must think I’m a total basket case, crying like that about stupid little things in a city wading pool.”

Galo was in the lead, trailing Lio behind him as they took a shortcut down a narrow brick alley. Still, Galo held his hand out behind him for Lio to hang onto, much like a baby elephant would hang on to an adult’s tail.

“Hey. Bodily autonomy and the trauma of losing it is not a ‘stupid little thing.’ And even if it was, you’re allowed. You’ve been living as a refugee for years, yeah? It’s totally normal to cry about a good meal that you can just walk up and buy without the threat of violence or scarcity, or tool around a shop that’s not burned-out with bodies in it.”

Lio swallowed hard, but nodded. “You’ve been reading my pamphlets that’ve been sent out to the city departments.”

“Of course. I’m very proud of them, in fact. They start a lot of good conversations around the station.”

Lio felt another wave of gratitude-laced tears coming up, and quickly wiped them from his eyes one-handed.

“And anyway,” Galo continued obliviously, “You think Meis and Gueira haven’t cried over some totally normal thing that hit them just right since everything went down? I bet they have.”

“Gueira rescued a plant from out behind the garden store and he said he cried over it for like two hours after he put it in his windowsill.” Something about stability and being cared for in the city, rather than withering abandoned in the desert, never able to grow. “And, come to think about it…Meis had some kind of moment a while back over painting his nails black.”

“See? Exactly.” The exited the alley, and Galo cased the small parking lot for his bike. They quickly found the motorcycle parking, and he unlocked the chain that held the two helmets. He handed one to Lio. “Safety first. I get that.”

He winked cheesily, and Lio sighed, defeated.

“I try to be all big and scary,” Lio admitted. “And I do a good job in various situations. But. Sometimes…I just want to be taken care of. And a lot of people can’t be responsible with that.”

When he looked up, Galo was smiling at him. Lio blushed, looking away, but Galo chased him and touched at his cheek fondly. “I’m gonna show you the world, Lio.”

Lio made a very unbecoming noise. If he still had his fire, his horns would be coming out right about now.

“But that said. That’s only if you want me to. No means no, and if you want me to stop, I will. Or just step back and give you a minute. That’s fine. Other people are scary, especially big ones. I kinda forget because I’m so used to Kray and Varys and Ignis but…”

Lio blanched at the man’s name, and Galo quickly apologized. Lio shook his head. “No, it’s fine. Keep going. What were you saying?”

“Oh well, I spend so much time thinking about helping people, I forget that sometimes I can be the intimidating one.”

Lio gazed up at him, Galo’s boyish smile under the moonlight looking the farthest from intimidating that could ever be. And was that a little bit of secret smile for him, that Galo didn’t show others? Lio thought so, but he didn’t want to hope.

“That’s so very sweet,” Lio admitted, letting the warm flurries from Galo’s scent flutter freely about his chest like they wanted, turning into a desire for connection.

“Look, Lio.” Galo turned to him, the helmet nestled in the crook of his arm as he cocked his hip. “I want to share my body with you. I want to do this for you, because I _like_ you. But if you don’t feel comfortable, that’s okay! There’s always next time, or like, just a normal hookup. If you want to go home and take care of yourself, you can, I won’t hold it against you. In fact, if you aren’t into it and are forcing yourself, I won’t enjoy it much either. Heats are special, and they should be shared with someone you trust and care about, who cares the same back. You know that, right? So just, be honest with me, okay? That’s all I’m asking from you in return. Promise.”

Lio nodded, thoughtfully turning the firetruck-red helmet in his hands. It caught the light of the lamps overhead—until they suddenly shut off.

Looking up, Lio found them all off, every one. And not just the parking lot, but the businesses and streetlights too. “Wha? A power outage?”

“It’s dark sky night,” Galo said, perky. He put on his helmet, and gave Lio a grin with the visor up. “What do you say? Can I take you one more place, before you make your decision to come back to my place or not, your highness?”

He said it with complete sincerity. Lio blushed, and put his helmet on too, if just to hide his face. “S-sure. I should be sober enough to hold on.”

“All right!” Galo gripped in him a huge hug, pulling him off the ground. Lio flailed and yelped as expected, but he wasn’t at all upset when he was finally put down. Quite the opposite—he was impressed and a little turned on. Luckily, all the dark clothes hid it, in the suddenly black night. “Great choice, boss-man. You’ll like this, I promise.”

The invoking of something that was almost his title brought a tender calm to Lio’s mind and body. And coming from Galo’s lips, on a motorcycle like this, driving through the darkness together—it felt right in his heart. Moreso than anything else this night had, as much of a sweet siren song as it had been.

They headed toward the edge of town on dark residential streets, riding double with Lio to the rear. He held onto tightly to Galo, head cradled in the groove of his spine and his arms clasped at his sternum. Clothing whipped around his sides while the wind dug down his neck and flipped his hair; the chill was intent to invade his skin but Lio wouldn’t allow it near them. He could feel Galo shift this way and that, and the thought of him, attention on his task, keeping them safe and guiding them forward while he did nothing but hold on and trust him—there was something beautiful to it. Especially when they had to lean into a curve, pressed a little more tightly to each other.

Suddenly, the ground began to rise. A winding, forested road appeared beyond the headlamp at the edge of the tract housing, a road that had no lights at all—street, decorative, or otherwise, even during the day. Lio knew Galo didn’t live up here, and the lack of lights was strange, so he simply tucked himself into the man’s back, smelling the leather of the riding jacket to distract himself. It was supple; he must have taken good care of it. Another point in his favor, really.

The road wound around and around a large hill, it seemed, because they only ever turned one direction after they entered the trees. When Galo put the kickstand down, they were in a large parking lot that graded upward toward a far side completely lost in darkness. More pine trees lined all sides of the place, obscuring what the pavement was leading to. There were quite a few cars and bicycles; after locking up the helmets, Lio glanced querulously around at all the families and couples heading up the path.

Galo took his hand and squeezed it. Turning, he found him grinning, face painted with moonlight and shadow.

The man had no idea that lighting flames together under the moon was a Burnish ritual, did he?

Lio’s tipsy heart was fluttering as he sighed, tucking a lock of hair behind his ear and shifting his weight on his back foot unconsciously. His mind called for sparking flames to come to his fingertips, but of course none did. The alcoholic buzz in him made it hard to mind, though. He was warm enough under Galo’s happy gaze.

The firefighter sniffed the air, eyes closed for a moment. He was smiling gently as he put his hands in his pockets, and rocked on his feet a little.

“Do you think you’ve got another hour of fun left in you?” Galo asked, ducking his head in a way that Lio suspected meant he was blushing a bit.

“Of course,” Lio replied, swishing toward him and biting his lower lip. “But this doesn’t seem like a lover’s lane, with all the kids here.”

“It’s not… _only_ a makeout spot,” Galo admitted cryptically. “But either way, I really wanted to show you this. It’s really cool, and you know, I thought, maybe you’d like to be a bit closer to your old friends the Promare for a bit.”

Lio titled his head, his heart suddenly hurting like it’d been pinched. “What?”

“Here,” Galo said gently, like he was enticing a reticent child to experience something new. “Come with me.”

He held out his hand, and Lio took it, wishing it was warm enough out that there didn’t need to be gloves between them.

At the end of the parking lot, they climbed a simple asphalt trail that was thick with boulders and trees to either side. A person was standing in the middle of the stone gate, ushering people into a low-rise building to the right. After the headlights of cars burning through the night, it was a bit too dark for him to see beyond the person. So instead, Lio followed his guide into the building that was filled with hanging models of planets. Before Lio could discern much else, Galo flashed a membership card of some variety out of his wallet and quickly pulled them back out of the building through a different door, stickers on both their chests.

Not far up the trail, which was lit only by tiny emergency lights on the ground, there was a flat spot full of standing telescopes. One was as big around as a major tree limb, and each had a small line of people waiting nearby it.

“This is an observatory,” Lio stated, suddenly getting it. “You’re taking me to an observatory.”

Galo grinned. “Pretty cool, huh? You’re super smart, and you’ve mentioned you like outer space and stuff, so I thought…y’know, you might like this?”

Lio grinned too. “We could always see amazing stuff in the desert, but we never had any telescopes.”

He squeezed Galo’s hand and headed over to the biggest tripod-style telescope in the cluster, where he listened to the docent talk about what they’d be seeing with them.

By the time he’d gotten through all four telescopes, he’d seen Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and the Moon. The Moon was so bright it’d made his eyes water, but the craters and shadows were amazingly detailed. With Jupiter, he’d even seen the tiny white dots of Ganymede and Europa, and then Saturn’s rings in miniature in its telescope. He could even see some of the yellow color that graced the amazing world.

“This is so cool, Galo!” Lio crowed as Galo pulled him away, further up the path and deeper into the compound, which had several low-rise buildings tucked into the rocky hill. “I had no idea you’d have a membership to a place like this!”

“Yeah! I think supporting arts and sciences is important! And there are some great role models in scientific history! They have great lectures here. And like, I’m super into mechanical stuff too, so…” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck as he spoke, a sheepish smile on his face.

“So where are we going now?” Lio asked, jogging to catch up with him. It was even cooler than before, now that they were nearing 11 PM and were up above the town too.

“The piece de resistance,” Galo stated grandly, arms outstretched.

“Oh? Ohhh?” Lio did laps around him, feeling all fluttery and even holding his arms out like a kid would twirling in a field. It was fun being tipsy. “What could it beee?”

There weren’t too many people nearby at the moment, most clustered around the telescopes. He could hear—and smell—though, a few couples making out on the terraced stone ledges hidden around corners and behind bushes. Since it was so dark, it was the perfect place to. Lio found himself giggling, suddenly understanding what he’d meant in the parking lot.

“You wanna see?” Galo asked.

“I do! Of course I do!”

“All right. Here.”

Galo bent down, and Lio paused in his bumble-bee flight. “Ah?”

“Here.” Galo motioned to his broad shoulders. “Climb on.”

Far from being concerned about his balance, Lio had a moment of synaptic misfire at the thought of _sitting on_ such forbidden fruit as Galo’s amazing shoulders, and then a further failure of self-preservation as he announced, “Okay!”

He got behind the city’s blue-haired hero and climbed up on his shoulders. He bent forward to hold Galo’s forehead and neck, while Galo held his ankles. “Hang on tight, okay? If you tip, tip sideways.”

“Roger!”

Lio balled up rather tightly on him, but Galo, using a nearby boulder as a safety balance, managed to rise. It was like lifting on an elephant, Lio thought. There was so much massive weight underneath him that he felt like Galo was an entirely separate species compared to his usual experience.

Still, it was a dizzying feeling and Lio whooped, closer to flying than he had been in a long time. He could see the stars above, and suddenly, part of the town down below, lights twinkling here and there. And, a bit above the nearest set of stumpy juniper trees—

“WHOA!”

Galo’s hands tightened on his calves, a happy gesture.

There was a big telescope. The _real_ kind. The kind with a _retractable dome!_

And it was _open_.

For Lio, who loved history and geology and all those old-fashioned explorer tales, his mouth was practically watering as he pointed. “Whoa! It looks so cool close up!!”

Lio was not a two-exclamation point kind of person. But for marvels of science, he occasionally made an exception.

Galo chuckled underneath him, enjoying the scent of Lio’s excitement. It was light on the wind, but endearing.

“You like?”

“This is super cool, Galo! Aaah!”

“Wait till you go inside!”

“We can go _inside_?!” Lio squealed.

“What did I tell you? Galo Thymos leaves the best to last!”

“Well then let’s go, mighty steed! To adventure!”

“To adventure!” Galo agreed, a hearty, throaty laugh rippling through him like an earthquake that almost made Lio melt off of him given the fact that it went right into his thighs. But Galo still managed to ferry them both up the last little bit of hill, to the original observatory proper. Lio absolved that he would _not_ tell Galo how wonderful it was to have his fluffy blue head between his thighs lest Galo decide to never do this again because of it. But it required every ounce of chanting about science in his mind to overcome the urge.

Alas, the sacrifices one made for love. Still, he had hope that there would be plenty of time to tell Galo about how he felt having the man between his legs.

The inside of the building was unheated, of course, and lit by a red light high up on the wall in a cage. The main space was mostly empty, aside from the most beautiful piece of scientific equipment Lio had ever seen.

A brass telescope that was a couple hundred years old and twenty feet long was stationed on a concrete pedestal. The telescope turned, however, from a cantilevered mounting spot that started about where Galo’s head ended. A chair with wooden stairs lead to the viewer scope, the whole situation of which looked like a cross between a mini set of bleachers and a library’s rolling ladder on a track. If it weren’t so cold, Lio might have considered taking up residence in one of these.

The telescope itself was thrillingly beautiful, with dozens of sleek, shiny pieces working together. Something about the promise of the unknown, its size, and its setting high above, gave off a feeling of grand mystery and brought a person to marvel in its presence.

But the thing that was the most amazing about it, Lio thought as he stood in a line of patrons that went all around the inside of the building, was the decoration on the inside of the roof. The entire place was fractalline, made up of all the gears to move the dome. It looked like a kaleidoscopic, copper-geared wonderland.

Galo, too, was in heaven, arms crossed and hips cocked to the side as he inspected this or that thing, with the kind of eye that an old master craftsman would have for his favorite work upon seeing it properly upkept. Lio kind of wanted to kiss him, seeing that. Science made him want to kiss people anyway, but Galo _and_ science was just a little too much.

The Alphas around him might have been able to scent that on him, though, damnable thing that heats were, because even with the building somewhat open to the air, certain people in their line were edging either closer or further away from him.

Galo, however, just smiled at him, his posture loosening. He beckoned Lio under his wing with but a lift of his arm; Lio tucked himself in, and Galo idly rubbed at his arm where his hand landed. It was warm here; Lio did want to leave.

“Doing okay still?”

“Mm,” Lio agreed, snuffling into the side of Galo’s peck. “Less drunk, more horny.”

Galo chuckled. “Hah, okay. Sorry to keep you out so late on the way to heat, I just wanted to show you this last thing.”

“It’s fine. Sorry if I’m being completely off my rocker. I feel a bit strange.”

“It’s okay. I like what I see so far.” Galo laid a kiss on the top of his head rather automatically, and they both stilled as they realized what he’d done.

Lio, however, just purred into his pec and then gave it a nip.

He was glad it was dark; red light made very deep shadows that were hard to see through.

Galo took a sudden deep breath; Lio enjoyed the heady scent of arousal that flared up around him. He giggled and tucked his shoulders in, trying to be cute and little. It was nice to have a sweet Alpha to tease in public. One that didn’t get angry or aggressive or controlling, but instead just sputtered adorably.

“You really are something special,” Lio admitted into Galo’s shirt.

Galo sighed and wrapped both arms around Lio’s shoulders, snugging him close. “Thanks, bud.” It was warm and safe there, enveloped in his heat and scent and plush muscle, and Lio found himself thinking he never wanted to leave. Not for all the stars in the world.

They stayed like that until it was their turn to view the scope, listening to the science interpreters field questions and watching them manually crank the telescope around every ten minutes or so (which was way too cool).

When it was time, Lio climbed up first into the viewfinder. The image in the lens was about as big as the tiny freestanding telescopes down the hill, but what it could see was magnified so much more. What Lio saw was a fuzzy little blob, vaguely in a ring. But it had a _color_ to it. It was ever so slightly blue.

He’d never seen that before. Before tonight, he’d never even seen color in a telescope. The magnification had never been enough to see anything that wasn’t just shades of grey.

But this. This was actually _blue_.

“This is…a galaxy?” Lio asked in awe. The docent beamed, perky.

“Yup! It’s one of the Messier catalog objects, a ring galaxy!”

It was amazing. He told her so. She preened.

“That’s what you get from the telescope that discovered Pluto!”

Lio paused. “This…?” he asked her, speechless. “Is the telescope that discovered a planet? THE telescope?”

“Yes! It’s what we’re famous for! The town was very small at the beginning of the 1900s, and there’s desert for days on three sides. It was a perfect place for a telescope for academics coming from California and Phoenix and the Midwest.”

Lio found himself looking at Galo. He was standing on the ground with his beefy arms crossed, his stance loose, apparently enjoying the view of Lio and the telescope (though given the situation, Lio wasn’t sure which one caught his attention more).

Galo looked away quickly, which he assumed was a good sign for him being first place, so he said, “Galo.”

The man turned back.

“You’re a fucking stud, you know that?”

Galo chortled, as did a couple people in line.

“Galo?” said a teen in the audience. “Like that famous firefighter?”

Galo’s back arched, and Lio knew what was next. _Here it comes_.

“Why yes!” Galo spun on his heel, arms flexed. “That’s me! Star of Burning Rescue Squad Three! I’m here with my new coworker tonight, Lio!” He pointed at Lio. “I wanted to show him the best of what the town has to offer smart people like him.”

Lio sighed bashfully, and told the nice lady running the telescope that this might take a while. She smiled, chagrined, and instructed her colleague to take the time to move the scope’s tracking. Lio took one last look at the heavens through the tiny piece of glass, feeling oddly connected to his human heritage and yet very small at the same time. In the back of his mind, he wished the Promare a happy existence wherever in time and space they were, and then scuttled down off the rack to do some crowd control.

They eventually got out of the dome, but not after they’d both touched the telescope base reverentially and said their goodbyes to it. It just seemed like the thing to do: For Galo, who loved machines; and for Lio, to whom outer space had brought so much.

It almost felt like…saying goodbye to the Promare all over again. But this time, on his own terms.

 _Maybe we’ll see you again someday, I hope_ , he thought to them. _But without the pain to either of us, because we’ll both know more._

They ended up sitting on the low stone retaining wall just outside the dome, in between some bushes and overlooking the visitor center, the town, and a stand of trees that were dark in the night. It was intimate under the cacophony of stars, and surprisingly quiet but for the wind.

Lio swung his legs, while Galo sat still next to him. For a while, it was simple silence, each in their own thoughts, but eventually, Lio hummed and rubbed his arms, chilly, and Galo put an arm around him, drawing him in to his side.

“You like tucking me in here, don’t you,” Lio quipped, not at all complaining.

Galo smirked; Lio could hear it. He glanced up at his square jaw, and sighed a bit at the angle. So close, surrounded in the protective and confident scent Galo exuded, everything he noticed about the man that he’d never noticed before struck him with wonder and thrill. It was getting hard to keep his blood in the right places.

“We do seem to fit well together, don’t we?” Galo asked, squeezing him with a flex.

Lio draped his head against Galo’s side, hair sticking to his shirt.

They stayed like that for a little while, watching the earthly and heavenly stars alike, until Lio screwed up his courage with a sigh.

“Hey Galo,” he said, swinging his legs one last time.

“Mm?”

“This has been really nice.”

“I’m glad.”

“But I’m afraid I must ask something of you.”

“Yeah?” Galo asked, stilling. “D’you…you gonna go back to Gueira and Meis, after all?”

“Honestly, I would like to spend tonight with you,” he whispered, unmoving. “But it depends on how you answer something.”

Galo was silent but for the tightening of his core, but after a bit, Lio felt him take a deep breath and tilt his head. “Shoot.”

“Is this like, a date-date? Not just a heat hookup, but a real date?”

After all, he _had_ said “I’m doing this because I like you.” And also, in a matter of speaking, “You’re precious.”

“Well I, uh…”

Lio peeled away and stared at him, waiting. Galo looked uncomfortable, and ended up staring at his own knees.

“If…you want it to be, then yeah. I just, I wasn’t sure how’d you feel, and…I didn’t want you to feel pressured or anything, is all…”

Lio grinned and shook his head, closing the distance between them quickly. He leaned in, arms wrapped around Galo’s thick neck. As Galo’s eyes met his, sweeping back and forth in the monochrome light desperately, Lio transformed his determined stare into a wicked grin.

“I would like that very much,” Lio pronounced, taking Galo’s cheeks in his hands and pulling him down into a kiss.

Galo pulled back slightly in surprise, but soon enough he was leaning in, his hands slipping down to hold Lio’s slender sides. And they were big: they went all the way from hip bone to rib. They touched him only delicately though, almost reverentially; Lio shuddered into Galo’s lips, the places where they connected tingling and sparking with stolen warmth.

“Take me home, Galo Thymos,” Lio whispered. “I’m ready to reward you for this lovely evening.”

No matter how the night went, Galo’s delighted smile was already the sweetest prize Lio could ever hope for.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe the amount of words it takes to get these two idiots to kiss.
> 
> Promare has a kink meme now! My friend started it. Check it out--> https://madkinkyburnish.dreamwidth.org/277.html

Galo Thymos was not at all like the other Alphas Lio’s known. He was gentle and kind. Boisterous, sure, but enthusiastic too. Committed and devoted, he was as nurturing as he was eager—to please. To protect. To be accepted.

He was eager to…have a place, Lio found himself thinking, as they walked to Galo’s apartment building from the parking lot nearby, hand in hand. He was an Alpha who had never had a pack, but had always wanted one.

And now, after a wonderful date, he was hoping Lio would spend his heat with him.

“You’re really cute,” Galo was saying, pulling him close and then twirling him away, but never letting go of his hand. “Everything I learn about you, I like. I’ve never felt that before.”

“Aw! You aren’t just saying that so I’ll go down on you?”

“Nope!” Galo yanked him in, and Lio was quickly trapped in a warm bear hug. Lio snuggled in, hands clasped together around Galo’s back and chin in the dent between Galo’s pecs. He smiled up at his date mischievously. “We fit well together.”

Feeling tipsy on the sweet earthy tones that were floating all around Galo, Lio squeezed him. The man’s sky-blue eyes went half lidded with a hum, and he swayed as they stood there on the sidewalk. Lio chased that look and the stars glittering above it, grinning all the while.

“I dare say we do,” Galo purred, mimicking his tone. He drew Lio’s fluffy blond bangs aside and planted a kiss on his forehead. His skin was soft, smelled like warm apple cider, and was driving Galo a little wild. “I like it when you smile.”

That smile grew. “I like yours too.”

Lio reached up on the balls of his feet, head tilted back. His date met the request with a tender kiss that lingered. It was a bit sloppy but warm, and left him aching for more against the chill.

When Galo finally broke the kiss, Lio whimpered a little. A flush went through him, right to his belly, urging him to bond with this incredible Alpha before he could decide to leave.

It wasn’t at all like him.

“What do you say?” Galo husked. “You wanna come upstairs?”

He lifted one hand, a key swirling around his finger.

But gazing up at that sculpted jaw that could cut diamond, chin on pecs as thick as his own forearm, and wrapped in sweet, healthy scent, Lio couldn’t bring himself to _care_.

“Yes,” Lio breathed like he was faint. His hands clutched into the excess of Galo’s pants, just below his hips. “Take me.” Their eyes locked, and he licked his lips. “…Upstairs.”

A big hand gripped the back of his head and with a breathy little moan, Lio’s lips parted on instinct. Galo filled the request with a deep kiss to the lips, and then down, down, down Lio’s neck he went, until he was suddenly half bent over, near his waist.

“Wha…?” Lio wondered breathily, and then, when he suddenly turned upside-down, “WHAT?!”

“All right! Gotta get you upstairs before we disgrace ourselves in the _street_!” Galo announced enthusiastically, standing up. “Fireman’s carry!”

He had Lio wrapped like a pretzel over his shoulders in one swift motion, barely a weight at all. Lio immediately started screeching.

“Don’t squirm! Keep your head down!” Galo instructed at a laugh, that was a farse of his usual emergency work tone. “Go limp or you’ll hit your head!”

But even though Lio kicked and flailed, soon enough Galo was through the security door and bounding up the stairs two at a time, himself laughing and his passenger yelping and each one jeering the other all the way to the top floor.

“Home sweet home!”

Galo shoved the old door shut behind him, threw his keys into the keybowl, and danced across his living room with Lio on his shoulders until he deposited him on the couch with an all-encompassing _woof_ of air.

Lio, meanwhile, was laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe.

“Oh my God,” he critiqued in between gasps. Galo tried to pull away, but he had been holding onto Lio’s wrist as he let him down and now Lio returned the favor by gripping his forearm and not letting him go. “You maniac. You absolute maniac.”

“Let me go,” Galo pleaded playfully.

“No,” Lio returned petulantly.

“Let me goooo.”

“Noooooou.”

“I wanna close the bliiiinds, Lio. Mooood lightiiiiing…”

“You stay. You stay right here with _meee,_ you _magnificent_ specimen of mannn.”

Galo gave up and sank down to sit beside the couch, laying his arm along the length of Lio’s body. He rested his head on his shoulder and contented himself with watching Lio, who was sprawled out on his back. Galo was near his waist, and Lio had his arm; he could have broken out of the hold of course, but he didn’t want to. Instead, he just sighed contentedly and gazed over Lio with a smile.

Lio sighed and rolled his head to the side to get a better look at his captor. He gazed over his face, eyes soft and dreamy and sedate. The room quieted, and for a while they stayed just like that, warm and close, each one the only thing in the world for the other.

Eventually, Galo smiled welcomingly and raised his free hand, brushing Lio’s bangs out of his eyes. Lio’s fuchsia eyes fluttered shut as his fingers drew near, and Galo reveled in the feeling. It was a simple grace—that an act so gentle could beget such gentility in return. Everything made sense in this moment, and it made his heart ache for all that he knew Lio must have gone through to get to this place.

Only about five percent of the population was Omega, which was enough of a handicap. But Lio was also Burnish, and on top of it, queer of some variety. So he had triple the reason of most to think other people would hate him as soon as look at him. There were also the things he’d insinuated at the city park.

And yet here he was, happily lying on Galo’s couch, scent sweet and secure and giving Galo bedroom eyes.

“That was a really nice date,” Lio whispered, smile tender. 

“It was,” Galo agreed at a hush, not wanting to break the spell that hung over them.

“I’ve never had a date that didn’t involve a barren wasteland.”

And there the spell broke. “I…I’m sorry?” Galo sputtered.

“No,” Lio reprimanded gently, softening the tone between them again. His free hand crossed his body and rested on Galo’s head, petting the fluffy blue spikes gently. His hand was small and didn’t weigh much, but it was still calming somehow. “I’m just saying thank you. For giving me that.”

“You deserve the world, Lio,” Galo replied, turning his head to lay a kiss in the palm of Lio’s captured hand.

Lio let the man have his way with his skin, pliantly holding out his hand to him. The pad of Galo’s thumb massaged his palm while Galo slowly kissed up his arm, up and up and up, in between words of praise, ever rolling up his turtleneck’s sleeve as he went.

“You are beautiful.” _Kiss._ “And smart.” _Smooch._ “And kind.” _Smeck_. “Defiant.” _Kiss-kiss._ “And feisty.” _Lick-kiss_. “Caring, considerate, cute.” _Peck-peck-peck_. “Generous.” _Nibble._ “A skilled fighter, a fantastic co-pilot…”

By now he’d reached his shoulder. Lio giggled as Galo dove into the heat of Lio’s sheltered neck, nose tickling bare skin, even as he spent half his attention pushing Galo’s mane of hair out of his face.

But Galo held onto him, and soon he had reached Lio’s ear, where he laid one more tender kiss, and a whispered promise:

“And most importantly of all. You’re here with _me_.”

A shiver shot down Lio’s spine and he bit his lip, toes curling in his boots against it. Galo leaned back with a crinkle of the cushions and couch springs; when Lio opened his eyes, he found himself gazing deeply into the man’s expectant stare.

And so Lio giggled, wiping at a tear of laughter in his eye.

Galo’s face fell, and he immediately turned away, blushing. “Wh-what, I thought it was good?”

“Oh sweet ember,” Lio chuckled, coming up just enough to take hold of him. He held both sides of Galo’s face and drew him back down as he himself sat up, until their foreheads and noses touched. “It _was_ good. I liked it. But don’t you know threats to a Burnish should always end in either fire or ice?”

He sat up full and in turn pushed Galo down. The man allowed himself to be guided, and soon Lio had pushed him all the way down to the carpet. Lio straddled his waist, knees grinding into the floor and hands pushing Galo’s meaty shoulders down. Galo’s mane of hair splayed out around his head, blue strands caught in white fibers, while his hands fell against Lio’s calves, fingertips delicately curling into them.

“You know what I like about you?” Lio continued, setting a kiss on Galo’s forehead, and then looking over his face.

Galo’s breath caught in his throat, his lips slightly parted. His eyes flickered back and forth at the sight of Lio Fotia above him, wild hair falling to one side of his face and intent eyes catching the tiny sparks of light like a sunset sky full of stars. Galo’s Adam’s Apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly, and Lio bent down to drink in the taste, lips and tongue riding the undulations.

Lio’s scent was all over him, flooding him with need and vigor, and every time Galo sucked in a deep, dizzy breath, he could touch a little more of Lio’s body, chests pushing together between soft sweaters and unzipped jackets.

“Wh-what,” Galo asked thickly, attention pulled like a fish to a lure.

“You’re honest,” Lio began, titling Galo’s head back as he slid a feather-light kiss under his jaw. He took a long, slow moment to lick his skin and then suck it into his mouth, leaving a small hickie there where no one would see. “And straightforward. You care about people, and mean everything you say.”

For each point he stated, Lio sucked a deep kiss on Galo’s carotid, just inside his throbbing mastoid, slowly working down his neck. As he went, his fingers dug further into Galo’s lats, and he slid his hips down Galo’s body, a slow and inexorable grind against his warm washboard.

“You’re strong, and diligent, and critically, very open to new ideas.” Lio swirled his tongue in the divot between Galo’s collarbones, causing him to swallow hard.

At his sides, Galo’s fists clenched hungrily. Lio sat up with a toss of his head; he spread his knees and braced one hand on Galo’s throat lightly. As Galo gasped, Lio took pity on one of his yearning hands and plucked off its glove. He tossed it to the side with a merciless flick of his wrist, and brought Galo’s bare hand to his lips. He placed a long, spreading kiss on the worn skin of his palm, and then pressed deep smooches down the tender patches along his wrist and forearm. “You’re attentive. A team player. Enthusiastic, positive, and brave.” Lio got to Galo’s elbow and nibbled a little there, causing a giggle that raced through Lio’s thighs like waves lifting a boat.

“But also sweet and tender,” Lio continued, letting Galo’s hand go to look over his face. The hand on Galo’s throat lifted too, and as heady blue eyes fluttered over to lock on Lio’s half-lidded purple ones, Lio stroked his fingers over Galo’s Adam’s Apple lightly, just enough to tickle. “A good teacher, with a steady presence, and of course, you’re a gorgeous specimen of a man too.”

Galo swallowed hard, mouth hanging open with need. “Th-thank you…”

“And you know what else?” Lio asked, coming down just above Galo’s lips, just enough to brush them with his words.

“Hhhah?” Galo wondered, following Lio’s mouth as best he could when Lio’s face dipped down past his without leaving a mark. But one of Lio’s hands fisted into his hair at the roots, holding his head still before he could turn far enough to chase him.

Lio was laid out over Galo’s upper half, and the firefighter’s hands came up of their own accord to cradle the little body to him. Lio, meanwhile, leveled his mouth with Galo’s ear and whispered darkly,

“We’re going to _burrrrn_ together, you and me.”

He said each word slowly, deep enough to growl but soft enough to cause a shiver, and at the end, he left his mouth open so that the sounds inside his mouth came off like water droplets in a cave. With a self-satisfied sigh, he swirled the tips of each of his middle fingers around the shells of Galo’s ears as he sat up.

Galo’s eyes fluttered shut, and he simply lay there with his mouth hanging ajar, quiet, shallow breaths sucking in the heat and scent between them. “I…I see what you mean.”

Lio hummed and kissed him, forcing his mouth closed. “Leave your mouth hanging open like that and someone might just come along and put something in it.”

When he’d had his fill and lifted back up again, surveying his captive, Galo’s eyes opened groggily. When they focused on Lio’s face, Lio winked at him, a smirk pulling at one side of his mouth.

“Oh hell,” Galo cursed breathlessly. “You’re a secret top under there aren’t you.”

Lio smiled and shrugged bashfully. “I just know what I like.” Tucking a lock of hair behind his ear, he winked coyly at Galo. “And tonight, that something is you.” 

With a sudden and triumphal roar, Galo wrapped his big arms around Lio and crushed him to his chest. Lio squirmed, surprised and laughing, but there was no way to escape. Soon enough he got the message: He laid himself out on Galo’s chest, legs tucked between the man’s. Galo petted a heavy hand over his head.

“What is it?” Lio asked, turning so that his chin was resting on Galo’s sternum, looking up his magnificent pectoral landscape to his face. Galo looked down, but only after a moment did he smile thinly. It was a tender, almost sad smile, as Galo watched him lay there.

“This doesn’t feel real,” Galo admitted after a moment. “You being here.”

Lio’s brow tipped down to match Galo’s. After a time, he placed a gentle kiss on Galo’s shirt.

“I know what you mean. I feel the same.” Lio smiled warmly back, extricating an arm to cup Galo’s cheek in his hand, which Galo leaned into. “But I’m ready to make this a night we don’t want to ever forget.”

Galo’s eyebrows pushed together and his mouth pressed closed. His cheeks reddened, and for a second, he almost looked like he might cry.

 _I really like you,_ was written all over his face. 

Lio tilted his head and made a soothing noise, encouraging.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Galo asked softly instead.

Lio’s brows quirked down incredulously, accompanied by a short bark of a querulous laughter a moment later. He looked up and down their bodies as if to accentuate the point, but decided to brush the nonsequitor aside with a shake of his head. He took a deep breath and rose heavily to his hands and knees, head hung low between his shoulders, while Galo’s worried gaze followed him.

Before he could speak though, Lio swooped in and lapped up the heat sheltered in his carotid with his lips, forcing Galo’s head to tilt back breathlessly and stare at the ceiling.

“Sure,” Lio whispered passionately into his neck. “I’ll take a nice hot _cock_.”

“Okay!” Galo announced, and then, once he realized it: “Heyyy! Wait a minute—!”

Lio chuckled and nipped at his lat, though it came with a mouthful of hoodie. “I mean if you don’t have it in stock perhaps we can borrow one from the neighbors.”

“Oh my God.” Galo sighed and, very gently cradling Lio’s head to him, sat them both up. He set Lio on the carpet and extricated himself from their tangle of limbs, cautiously standing up. He pointed at Lio. “Thirty seconds. Just give me that.”

Galo moved off into the edges of the room, closing the blinds. Lio obliged him for exactly two seconds before he started counting from where he sat.

“Oh my God stop counting you goob!” Galo called. Once he went behind the couch, Lio pulled out his Burning Rescue Training Instructor mimicry and started clapping as he spoke.

“Thymos! You have twenty! Two! _Seconds_! Get that Burnish _out_ of his clothes before he bursts into flames and takes the whole neighborhood with him! You ain’t gonna have to worry about the blinds when there are no windows! _Twenty!_ ”

“Lio! I swear to God! I’m going to lose my hardon if you keep making me think of my drill instructor!”

“What, thinking of holding hard hoses doesn’t turn you on, Thymoist?”

There came the sound of Galo stumbling over a very unfortunate piece of furniture.

“Twelve seconds! Eleven! Leave the neighbors you’ll be backlit anyway son, it’ll end up on the internet no matter what, might as well give them a nice shot of your scared face! Nine! Eight!”

“Lio I will turn this motorcycle around do you hear me?!” Galo called back desperately.

“Seven! Six!”

The blinds shut, door latched, and lights off, Galo’s last move was to plug in a string of Christmas lights that framed the TV and nearby window. Huffing, he whirled on his heel and stormed straight for Lio, feet loud on the floor.

“Five! Four! Thre— _heep_! Heeheeheeheehee—!”

“All right, you! _C’mere_! Heh!”

Galo dropped down to his knees and grabbed Lio by the biceps, shaking him just enough to hold him still. Lio gasped and pushed back, while Galo’s big hands unzipped his jacket roughly and dove underneath to shove it off his shoulders.

“Ah…” Lio got tangled in the sleeves, his struggling turning more tight. “Ah?!”

“Gotta get these—clothes off of you—before we can have some— _fun_!” Galo grunted between breaths, smacking Lio’s hands away.

“Nngh?!” Lio’s fight lightened up, and Galo successfully broke through and pushed him to the ground.

“Gotcha! Ha-ha!”

But as soon as Galo’s hands descended, Lio’s thrashing suddenly returned with a vengeance.

“Nnnagh! Aah! AAH! _STOP!_ ”

A desperate, harried cry ripped out of Lio’s throat. His palm practically attached itself to Galo’s chest, shoving him back. Both of his arms were pushed out straight, elbows locked, and his knees were tucked up to his chest, reading to kick Galo across the room.

“Ah?”

Galo stopped, leaning on his hands and knees with Lio underneath him. He touched at Lio’s hand where it held against him, but Lio was frozen, breathing only in sudden, short gasps. He wasn’t looking at Galo, but somewhere near his collar, with a dead, wide-eyed, faraway stare.

“ _Don’t move_ ,” Lio breathed at a whisper, when Galo tried to touch him. “ _Don’t say anything_ ,” he added, desperate and breathless, when Galo’s mouth opened. “Just give me a moment.”

His voice was shaky. In fact, his entire body was shaking. Lio’s eyes snapped shut, and, after remembering to breathe, he slowly sucked in deeper and deeper breaths. Eventually, his hand curled into a fist against Galo’s chest and his legs settled; Galo, for his part, carefully sat back on his heels, and ever so slowly pressed both hands into Lio’s, sandwiching them in his steady warmth.

He waited, obedient but nervous, and eventually Lio bit his lip, eyebrows pushed together like he was in excruciating pain.

“Lio,” Galo whispered. “Talk to me.”

“I’m okay,” Lio whispered back hoarsely. “Just. Don’t go.”

“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. Remember to breathe?”

Lio made a sad little chuckle, and pulled Galo’s hands against his chest. “I’m sorry, this is stupid.”

“It’s not stupid. It’s okay. I’m very sorry, what did I do? Please tell me.”

“Just…” Lio shook his head, squeezing hard in to Galo’s fingers. “Something about. Your tone. I dunno. The words, they…the memories…”

He let Galo go and held his own arms, where Galo’s hands had been a few moments before.

“I don’t…I don’t like getting _shaken_ like that.” His eyes opened, looking conflicted and pleading. “I couldn’t get free. My clothes…” His voice dropped to a whisper, and he quickly turned to stare at the couch as his face reddened. “I just remembered something. Is all. S-sorry.”

Galo’s brow knit deeply, his stomach slowly sinking. “Don’t be sorry. It’s my fault.” Galo scrubbed a hand through his hair, and after a moment, shook his head. “Jesus, I’m sorry, I should have known. I should have been paying more attention, after what you said at the park, and—”

Lio shook his head and held his hand up. Galo immediately stopped, waiting attentively. “Let’s not play this game,” Lio grumbled. “The endless apology becoming scared of each other game.”

Galo frowned, head tilted. “Then what do you want me to do? Should we…” He bit his lip. “…Stop, then?”

“Absolutely not!” Lio snapped, hunching in even tighter. Galo raised an eyebrow, blinking rapidly, so Lio threw him a forced, and very baleful, smile. “I’m not going to let my past get in the way of my future.” His voice was quiet, and he waved at the couch. “Here, please sit.”

“O…okay, sure?” Galo hesitantly pushed himself onto the couch, sitting stiffly on the middle cushion.

Lio took another deep breath and soon followed him, coming to stand between Galo’s legs, staring down at him intensely.

Galo, for his part, looked back up at him with big blue eyes and his hands threaded together in his lap, a bit like a scolded child.

So Lio smiled for him, and gently threaded a hand through Galo’s buzzed hair. “You didn’t do anything wrong. We just got a little excited, and something we did set off some bad memories. I was excited too. I still am. I want to do this with you. I just…maybe. Like you said at the station. Show me how gentle you can be.”

Galo smiled briefly, eyes alighting.

“And don’t…don’t immobilize my hands while taking my clothes off, I guess.”

“I can do that!” Galo assured, nodding enthusiastically. “Or not do that, as it were.”

Lio held both hands out, voice rising as well. “You can hold them above my head! That’s fine! I like that actually even?!”

“Okay!?”

“It’s just…! When you do that and say you’re going to have fun with me! Or have your way with me! While being physically aggressive! That’s…that’s not…please don’t.”

Galo nodded furiously, brow furrowing. Lio hated how it showed all his cards and quickly turned away.

“But that’s all only if you want to, I mean.” Lio took a deep breath and sighed it out shakily, one hand raking through his hair and the other resting uneasily on his hip. “Don’t force it just for me. I know being with a…a skittish partner…is hard.” He swallowed painfully, hating how that term sounded on his tongue. “I want to work with you about it, if you do, though.”

He gazed balefully at Galo from under his bangs. Galo’s shoulders drooped, but he took Lio’s hand in his own, massaging it nervously.

“Remember when I said all I wanted from you was to be honest with me?” Galo asked. “Well you’re doing that. So, don’t feel bad, okay. I don’t? You’re doing your best. Lots of Omegas have problems and I’m perfectly willing to work with that.” He finished his statement by leaving a kiss on the back of Lio’s curled fingertips.

Lio’s breath hitched, and he sighed, shoulders slumping too. “You’re so sweet Galo. Too sweet. I don’t know what I did to deserve this from you.”

“You didn’t do anything, you’re just being you.” Galo shook his head gently. “C’mere, Lio.” 

He pulled Lio’s nearest hand toward him and, cupping it in his own, slowly coaxed him near. Lio acquiesced, coming to sit in Galo’s lap with a sigh. He tucked his chin over Galo’s shoulder, and, wrapping his arms loosely around the man’s neck, draped against his chest. Galo’s arms hesitantly, and very gently, settled on Lio’s back, holding him close.

Lio closed his eyes and lay there, listening to their heartbeats sync up; feeling the pulse of Galo’s breath against his body. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into Galo’s neck, putting a kiss to it. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“I know,” Galo whispered back, equally into Lio’s shoulder. “Did you know that bothers you?”

“Kind of?” Lio whispered hoarsely. “I thought…since it was a different situation, different person…since I wanted to be here…” He sighed, pressing his face into Galo’s neck. “I thought that would be enough. No matter anything else. Those words you said…they just sounded so much like…like…”

“Shhh. It’s okay.” Lio’s breath choked in his throat; Galo’s started rubbing up and down his back soothingly. “I’m sorry. You’re safe here.”

“Did I ruin our night?”

“I have the same question to you, about me.” Galo chuckled a little, weakly. “But the night is not lost if I don’t get off. I told you that before.”

“I guess you did…”

“Everything up till a minute ago was great! I just want to make sure you get back to a good place. I don’t want to hurt you. That’s the opposite of how love works. Are you okay?”

“Love?”

Lio could feel Galo’s temperature rise against his cheek as he blushed all the way down his neck. “W-well, you know! Love-making. Caring for people. Wanting your partner to be happy! Yeah?”

“Ah.” Lio gave up the chase and instead let Galo’s warmth permeate his body. He closed his eyes and let his weight go, and in truth, it was helping unwind him. “I’ll be okay. So long as I get your dick eventually.”

Galo laughed and rubbed Lio’s back briskly. “I can certainly accommodate that request if you can.”

“I’ll certainly try. But I _am_ quite little you know.”

“Neehee.”

“Silly.”

Galo chuckled, and Lio sighed. Lio clasped his hand around his own wrist, and tilted his head into Galo’s neck, resting there. He ended up gazing at some pictures on the wall, ones that seemed to be of him and his friends at the firehouse during some camping trip, as well as a slightly more reedy him holding a diploma with a nun and both of them smiling big.

“It’s nice here,” Lio said after a bit of dozing on his body. “You’re nice.”

“Thank you. You’re nice too. And I like having you here. Even _with_ your baggage. I’m strong enough to carry it all, don’t you worry.” Galo’s big hand settled on the back of Lio’s head protectively, and he hummed in thought. “Though, thank you for letting me…ah? Cup your flame in my hands while it’s low.”

Lio’s face heated up. He pulled back and gazed Galo’s face up and down, even though it was only mildly lit in the string lights.

“What?” Galo asked, eyes similarly flickering back and forth for answers.

“That’s one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said to me.”

“Well you said Burnish respond well to metaphors?”

Lio laughed, and suddenly, everything felt better. “Galo you…” he trailed off into a breathless chuckle, wiping at his eyes.

“Don’t call me an idiot, I’m trying to be nice to you here,” he pouted.

“No! I wouldn’t!” Lio protested. He gazed over the firefighter fondly, chin in hand, enjoying the chance to be at a higher vantage point for once. His face had a lot of succulent angles from this direction, too. “I was going to say, ‘You learn quickly,’ huh.”

“Oh!” Galo beamed, little laugh lines appearing around the corners of his mouth that were going to grow into something absolutely stunning in twenty years’ time. “Well—yes! That’s me! Contrary to popular belief.”

“Anyone who thinks poorly of you isn’t paying attention.” Lio smiled and ruffled Galo’s fluffy, messy mohawk. “You’re just leaving the best for last.”

Galo’s smile was so heartfelt it threatened to melt Lio into a puddle of goo. Slowly, eyes fluttering, Galo tilted Lio’s head down. Lio let himself fall, and soon Galo was giving him a quiet kiss on the lips.

“Lio?” he asked softly when they parted. “Do you trust me?”

Lio stared into those gentle blue eyes and found only one answer. “Yes,” he whispered.

“Then please trust I’ll never do anything to you without your permission.”

Lio stayed silent, listening to the thought settle heavily in his heart.

“You know as well as I do, not every man is like that,” he continued, tucking a lock of hair behind Lio’s ear. “And I have tried my whole life to make sure I’m not that kind of man. I work with Burning Rescue, not Freeze Force, for a reason.”

Lio smiled sadly, and Galo swiped a tender thumb over the corner of his mouth as it twitched downward.

“I’d never intentionally do anything to hurt you, Lio. I said that before and I’ll say it as many times as it takes for you to feel totally safe with me.”

Lio shook his head, softly kissing Galo’s palm. When he spoke, his voice was barely there. “Thanks.”

“And in the meantime, I don’t think any less of you, if you’re worried about that. Anyone who would hurt you is an asshole and a predator. You hear me?” He took Lio’s hands in his own and kissed his curled fingers. “And about just now—I’m not even mad. Okay? These things happen. Just don’t hold it against me if I screw up, okay? And…let me try again?” Galo’s voice lowered, his gaze flicking aside. “I get kinda hung up when I disappoint people. So I’d like a second chance if you can give me one.”

“You are absolutely not disappointing me, Galo Thymos,” Lio whispered, cupping his jaw. “I hope you know that. This has been one of the best nights of my life. And when I say that, I mean it’s among a very few and dramatically above and beyond the typical.”

One of Lio’s hands circled around to the back of Galo’s head; he massaged his scalp, while the other tipped his chin up. Galo followed the movement with silent obedience, the muscles in his neck pulling taut and his blue eyes going half lidded, despite the fact that they were still deeply attentive. The image stole Lio’s breath away, and his hands swept forward of their own accord, smoothing up and down the firm warmth of Galo’s thick neck like he needed it to breathe. “I’m sorry I’m bad at ‘rewarding you,’” he whispered apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it.” Galo shook his head gently, turning his head to kiss into Lio’s palm. “Spending this much time with you is rewarding enough.”

Lio sucked in a heavy breath and cupped Galo’s cheeks in both his hands, all his emotional fire finally igniting once more. “Shut up and kiss me.”

And so Galo did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to take care of yourself in between rounds of fighting the power :') Even quiet resistance is valuable resistance.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I present to you, 8000 words of foreplay and blowjobs. I'm not sure what prize I'm winning, but I feel like I'm winning. Am I winning? Is this how smut even works? I still don't know, but thanks for being here. =)

“How you feeling?” Galo asked quietly a while later, languidly laid back against the couch with legs splayed. A well-kissed Lio, collar open and several hickies blooming on his neck and chest, sat on his lap, albeit balanced back toward Galo’s knees.

Galo had shucked his own hoodie and shoes, and Lio had likewise set his boots aside and tossed his coat over the armchair. Now Galo was in a charcoal-gray T-shirt and dark denim that left little to the imagination, while Lio was in a black button-up tucked into acid-wash skinny jeans. Galo smoothed a hand up and down Lio’s side idly, a smokey, appreciative smile on his face.

“Good!” Lio announced, hands raising over his head in a luxurious stretch. “You cheered me right up.”

“Glad to hear it. You were pretty tense there.”

“Well,” Lio shrugged, noncommittal. “Once I started paying attention, I realized you were pretty distracting.” When his gaze rolled back around to Galo, he winked. “My big strong rescue hero, saving me from bad memories.”

“That’s me,” Galo agreed with a blush, his hand sliding down to rest on Lio’s belt. It was kind of amazing, how easy it was for this thumb to be on Lio’s front and his fingers to rest on Lio’s back. The little fire-breathing dragon was ridiculously thin under all that fluff, and the tight clothing showed it off—where it wasn’t open and revealing even more. “You drank quite a bit over the course of the evening,” he went on, tucking a finger idly in Lio’s belt loop. “Was it because you were nervous? About coming home with me?”

“A little.” Lio shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck and gazing into the room. “N-not that I thought you would do anything bad, really. It’s just. You never know how people are gonna be when you have something they want and they get you alone.”

Galo could feel the tension suddenly return in Lio’s skin. Galo’s mouth ticked down. “I’m sorry people have been bad to you,” he whispered, slowly curling his hand at Lio’s waist into a fist.

Lio sighed and shook his head, setting a hand over Galo’s. It was warm, small as it was, and something about its gentle touch was unendingly calming. “I’m a tiny Burnish Omega with no family, what can I expect.”

"You still deserve better."

Lio shrugged and looked away. With a soothing hum, Galo stroked a thumb over Lio’s cheek. Lio sighed and leaned into it, all his fears chased away.

“How are you this nice?” he asked, cupping Galo’s hand to his cheek. It didn’t make the sorrow hurt any less, but this time, happier things welled up with the emotion, too.

“I just don’t like seeing people hurt,” the man replied simply. “I’ve experienced enough pain in my life already. There’s no reason to inflict it on anyone else.”

Lio’s breath caught in his throat and he sighed, taking Galo’s hand and giving the back of it a quick consolation kiss.

When he finished, he found Galo smiling, a more subdued version of his typical rakish grin. “I can’t believe I’m asking, but do you want more wine? Beer, maybe?”

Lio chuckled against his skin, thin fingers gripping his own. “Nah, but thank you. I’m still a little buzzed I think.”

“Still? It’s been like three hours.” Galo extricated his hand from Lio’s grip and set both of them on his thighs, heavy and grounding as they smoothed purposefully up and down.

Lio took a deep, happy breath that filled him with light. He got dizzy with each time Galo’s hands came too near _that part_. “Maybe it’s just you I’m drunk on. I’m all warm and floaty and dizzy. This whole room smells like fresh bread.” His voice lowered, and he swooped in to lick at the line of Galo’s jaw. “What I _do_ know is that you’re beautiful, though.”

Swallowing down the salty taste of his skin, Lio rolled his hips over Galo’s lap. The Alpha hissed and thunked his head back. “ _Ah_ …”

“So tell me,” Lio challenged at a whisper, lips brushing over Galo’s hungrily. “You want to stay with me during a heat. But what will you do to impress me? Basic coitus won’t cut it.”

“Why do I get the feeling you bring out all your big words when you’re turned on,” Galo noted, pushing himself up somewhat.

“Tame me with words,” Lio coaxed eagerly into his ear, riding the wave. “My _impressively_ big, _incredibly_ strong, _utterly_ _indominable_ Allllpha male.”

“Sheesh,” Galo sighed fondly.

“Ee hee hee hee.” Lio started kissing down his neck, butterfly-soft.

Galo was starting to notice that each wave of hormones surging through Lio brought out all his devious little giggles and seductive phrases. Indeed, he was starting to give off a scent something like baked pie-crust rolls laced with cinnamon and sugar and sweet apple drizzle. It made Galo’s mouth water, his body warm all over.

The “fresh-baked bread” scent was one Galo had been told he gave off when he was trying to be calming and coaxing. Apparently it was pretty thick at this point, but to him, it was Lio’s scent that was dangerously attractive. Of course, his Alpha pheromones would have more impact on an Omega, especially one in heat, and Lio’s heat-scents would strike him like bricks in return.

The current effect was to make him all aroused, determined to pin _something_ down and grind against it; it quickened his heart and narrowed his focus dramatically. If they’d been outside, Lio would have drawn the attention of every Alpha in a block’s radius and probably started a fight should anyone drunk have been around. But, they were safe in his apartment, and having literally risen to the occasion in more than one way already, Galo was not going to back down from a gentleman’s challenge, even one from the cute little Omega on his lap threatening to switch his mind to a feral state.

After all, the scent was only this strong, and this sweetly encouraging, because Lio was trying to entice a partner _he’d_ _already set his sites on_. It’d taste different if he were alone, or afraid.

So Galo Thymos did what he always did with challenges and compliments: he narrowed his eyes and smirked. “You _really_ wanna know, huh?” He purred the deepest syllables out, an octave or so below normal.

Lio leaned forward and pinned Galo’s hands against the spine of the couch, fingers flexed in between his own like the claws of the armor he once wore. A toothy grin spread across his face, and his hips wiggled not unlike a cat about to pounce. “Of course.”

Galo grinned and kissed Lio on the lips once, twice, wet little sounds going off softly in the faerie glow of the string lights. He hummed his interest deep in his throat; Lio giggled in reply to each kiss and vibration. Third or fourth time, Galo’s arm started to creep up Lio’s spine, until his big hand cradled the back of his head.

Gently, lips locked, Galo flipped them down into the cushions, and then nuzzled into Lio’s exposed neck and chest with a happy growl.

“I’m gonna treat you so _well_ ,” he began with a kiss on Lio’s collar bone, when Lio’s response was to giggle and wiggle and gasp happily underneath him. “I’ll be kind and gentle to you,” he went on, picking apart Lio’s shirt buttons in between kisses and nips and nudges. “Sook you meals, engage your mind, make you laugh and love…and I’ll also take you to bed with me, as many times as it takes, until you’re totally safe and back to normal.”

Lio laughed delightedly. He pulled his legs around Galo’s hips and threaded a hand through his hair.

“You’re going to need some _very satisfying_ sex to make it through your heat okay, and I’m up for the job, Mr. Rebel Leader.”

Lio’s breath hitched, and Galo used the opportunity to lay a string of light kisses up his neck, eliciting yet more giggles.

“Up, you say,” Lio teased between burbling laughs, only to groan as Galo rubbed a heavy hand between his legs. The friction through his clothes was a painful sort of exquisite, slow and dry, and Lio’s fingers twitched into Galo’s skin. “Tell me what you’d do,” he hissed.

Galo acquiesced first by taking Lio’s hand out of his hair and kissing its palm. He did the same on the knuckles of Lio’s other, a long, slow show—until he pinned Lio’s wrists above his head with one big hand, slowly so that he wouldn’t spook.

“I want to hold you down, just the way you like.”

Galo looked over him with bedroom eyes and appreciative smirk. Lio blushed, and Galo’s voice deepened as he descended. Each time he said a point, he kissed Lio somewhere new and random. “I want to watch you in a mirror, pin you to a wall, toss you onto my bed. Make you gasp and moan and _whine_ my name until you can’t think or come any longer. And…” Galo leaned down the furthest yet, whispering into Lio’s ear. A shiver shot through the little Omeag, all the way to his toes. “I’d like to mark you, deeply. And knot in you, if you’ll let me.”

Lio’s breath came out in a thirsty hiss that a few months earlier would surely have had steam appearing with it. As it was, he swallowed dryly, and above Galo’s hand, his fingers flexed.

“Has anyone done that to you before?” Galo husked. “It can be quite pleasant. Just holding each other, until it deflates.”

Galo drew his free hand idly down Lio’s stomach, one fingertip, then another. Once he got to his navel, he went back up and set one fingertip against Lio’s lips. It was accepted into his mouth with the barest of pressure, and he quickly began suckling with half lidded eyes and a very wet tongue. He made breathy little sounds, tired and turned on.

His body was both flushed and pliant, and Galo had to acknowledge that they were practically bathing in each other’s scents at this point. Lio’s was floating around him, drawing him in and making him hot in a way that made his every muscle ache with need, and it had to be similar for Lio—his whole body going weak, his mind lost in a heady haze, attention pushing toward the Alpha in the room just that little bit more. 

Galo wasn’t an animal though; he wouldn’t just give in and ravage Lio even though the feeling was halfway there (unless he wanted him to). Still, Lio was clearly falling into a heatwave sooner than planned, probably brought on by being around a willing Alpha all evening, and Galo withdrew both his hands to kiss that blissed-out look tenderly.

It hit Lio like a pleasurable lightning, all his senses flaring, begging for more. It felt like the fire in his veins used to, but without the sharp pain of being broken down and remade. No, this was far better, shocking through him and drawing a needy hum out of him with no pain but his stinging erection and achingly sensitive backside.

“I have, but…” Lio was breathless. “I’d rather it be you this time.”

Galo lifted to smile warmly at him, all dominance dropped. He rubbed his jaw against Lio’s, spreading marking scent over him. He followed it up with a tender kiss. “I’d be honored, Little Flame.”

A shocked little whimper of a noise came out of Lio’s throat, that Galo interpreted as an arrow right to his heart. Lio’s hands hovered over Galo’s bent back, and then, ever so slowly, drew Galo down. The man acquiesced, and with a deep breath, he ended up laying over Lio, big arms scooped up around and beneath him.

But rather than relaxing, Lio’s breath suddenly hitched in Galo’s ear; it was shaky. His spread legs widened, one going up the side of the couch and the other leg bent awkwardly, foot set on the floor looking for purchase—rather than wrapping around Galo’s body. He was tense all over, all of a sudden.

“What’s wrong?” Galo asked, stopping, senses piqued.

“Don’t go,” Lio whispered in his ear, in that same ghostly tone as before. His arms tightened around Galo like a life preserver. “Don’t let me run.”

Galo waited, sniffing out the suddenly acrid scent of blackened pastries wafting out of Lio, but when Lio didn’t move, Galo curled his arms underneath him, snugging him. He tucked his head next to Lio’s, forcibly slowed his breathing, and tried to catch the rate of Lio’s heartbeat against his chest, hoping he could get them to sync.

Lio, however, was just staring at the popcorn ceiling, suddenly aware of Galo’s weight in a different way than before. This was suddenly very real. That this was happening—that he was in Galo Thymos’s apartment, on his couch, the man hanging over him in the dark. But it wasn’t that that froze him. It was the awareness of his own physical vulnerability, that suddenly came with being on his back and staring at the ceiling and nothing but.

But now, Galo, ridiculously oversized for Lio’s petite frame, was in his arms, filling their reach and even stretching his muscles to fit him in. Heavy and stable, compressing his body and chasing away the fears, replacing prickles of pain with honeyed warmth as he breathed slowly, deeply, over and over again. Forcing Lio to recognize him as not a threat, but a friend.

“Follow my breathing, Lio,” he instructed gently.

A deep breath sucked into Lio’s lungs, held there, and then he slowly did as instructed. A breath in, a breath out, as he closed his eyes and prayed for warmth to melt his cold fears away.

And it was _sweet,_ losing himself in Galo’s warmth and scent. As he followed the man’s breaths, Lio’s muscles relaxed all over his body with a sigh. His thighs twitched open, and he slowly brought his feet down to rest together on Galo’s buttocks. It wasn’t the perfect fit, but damn it felt like it, and something about the shift in position—into a naturally receptive one, with hips shifted up—made sweet heat thrum through him so.

That gentle scent of baking bread came again, filling his nostrils; Lio lolled his head against Galo’s, closed his eyes, and let that scent transport him somewhere tender that he’d never known, but always hoped might exist, somewhere beyond his imagination.

After a while, Galo made a soothing noise or two. In time, his hand slid down the middle of Lio’s lifted thigh, the one trapped between him and the couch back. “You all right?” he whispered, rising a little.

“Y-yeah,” Lio whispered, Galo’s weight calming his nervous system. He gulped in a heated breath. “S-sorry. I just…I just realized something, and it spooked me.”

“What?”

“That I like it here. Uh…under, you.”

Galo slowly lifted more, head tilted and brows quirked. In the darkness, light from the string lights blocked by his hair, Lio couldn’t tell if it was worried or confused.

“This is…exciting,” Lio clarified with a little smile, reaching up to touch his face. “I just needed a moment to get the wires uncrossed. S-sorry. Didn’t mean to stop you.”

The smile on Galo’s face was big enough to be unmistakable. But, this time, he didn’t say anything; instead, he simply undid the last few buttons of Lio’s shirt and pulled it open further. Kissing down his sternum, he slid his hand over Lio’s pec, under the fabric, until his thumb circled a nipple.

“You sensitive?” he husked.

Lio’s mouth fluttered open and his eyes scrunched shut. “Oh—only during heats. O-otherwise, n-not so much…”

The Omega bit his lip and whined as the thick finger pressed in. Galo smirked to himself and then lowered his mouth to the nub. “Lucky me.”

His tongue was hot and strong, the feathery tip giving way to heavy pressure of the flat topside as it swirled. The sound of Galo’s lips slowly, purposefully sucking Lio in in deep waves made his nipples incredibly hard, and just as he was focusing all his thoughts on it, Galo tweaked the other between his thick fingertips, unwinding Lio all over again.

He tilted his head back, wheedling. His toes curled; his fingers clawed into Galo’s shirt. In the end, Galo just grinned softly, and set a kiss on Lio’s sternum.

“Pretty thing.”

Both of Galo’s hands were holding Lio’s nipples, fingers sliding down his ribs. They were so ridiculously big, and with Galo’s head on his chest in between them, soft blue hair draping over his massive shoulder…

Lio’s gaze flickered over his smokey blue ones. His fingers curled into Galo’s T-shirt where lapels would normally be, then purposefully flattened to smooth over Galo’s pecks and lats reverentially. He licked his lips and considered the view of Galo’s chest and his own legs spread wide—how enthralling it was that he was, effectively, trapped.

When he looked back up and their eyes locked, Galo was still gazing fondly at him, though it was a little hungry, too.

Lio tilted his head to the side, throwing him a sultry look. “Like what you see?” he quipped, voice husky, chest pressing up into the hand that was resting on him.

Galo chuckled, pearly teeth showing. “Yeah.” He tilted his head back a little, showing his Adam’s Apple.

“Me too,” Lio whispered.

They looked each other over, slowly leaning in. Magnetically, they began to kiss, soft, wet sounds sparking into the air one after another. Galo’s hands cupped Lio’s cheeks, so tenderly his skin barely touched. Lio let him, let the tingles infect him until they strummed every scared nerve with intoxicated verve. He took Galo’s jaw in both hands, letting the man’s weight press his own lips against his teeth.

Galo’s bracing stance shifted wider, his hands splaying, but eventually he cracked into a smile and broke the kiss. A delighted chuckle bubbled out of him, and Lio met it by smiling too, lifting up to brush his lips against Galo’s as he spoke, chasing him as he lifted up.

“What?” he asked, playful.

“Nothing really,” Galo replied, pulling back to look upon his face and give it a stroke with his big, warm hand. “Just thinking about how gorgeous you are, and how lucky I am.”

Lio smiled, heart clenching. He smoothed a hand over Galo’s head too, just on the buzzed side of the mohawk. Lio’s eyes turned fond, and he lifted up momentarily to lay a chaste kiss on Galo’s forehead. “You’re not lucky. You’re a good catch.”

Galo blushed. “You really think so?”

“Of course,” Lio narrated. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

“Here,” Galo whispered hoarsely. He licked his lips. “‘Under me.’”

“ _Heh_ , yes.”

From where he lay, looking blasted, Lio touched at Galo’s cheekbones with his fingertips, feather-light. He explored the heat, absorbing it into himself; watched the way Galo’s eyes slid sweetly shut and trustingly stay there as he slid his middle finger over a soft eyebrow.

If he still had his fire, he’d be feeling the other person’s right about now—the pulse and the flicker, the desire to mingle and burn brighter together. But even as it was, he almost felt it—a ghost of his own, whispering deep within him, far away, and aching to feel the light of Galo’s tender human flame dance with his own.

The man’s eyelashes were beautiful, curving gracefully over a humble smile. His skin was smooth and taught; his nose aquiline and jaw chiseled. Lio heavily threaded his fingers over Galo’s buzzed scalp and around his ears and soon he was peppering possessive kisses down Galo’s face from brow to nose tip. Galo giggled, and Lio contorted to kiss and nip at the hot skin underneath his jaw. He touched his tongue along Galo’s pulse point, lapping at the salty taste of him just inside the line of his mastoid.

Galo titled his head to the side and let out a welcoming sigh. Shifting a bit, his worn hands settled at the base of Lio’s ribs; it triggered something, made Lio’s entire lower half tingle. His legs spread on instinct, knees hitched up closer to his chest, and he moaned into Galo’s skin, taking in the scent, letting the magic chemicals take him over.

They were both hard, and Lio pulled him down until they were pressed together. He stroked himself up into Galo’s hardness through their clothes with a series of breathy sighs and tender moans, his head tilted to the side. He guided Galo’s hips into him over and over, as greedy as it was delicate; Galo molded into him to acquiesce, neck against neck, arms twined over his shoulders and scalp, seeking skin wherever he could. His breath was heavy in Lio’s ear.

“Mmn… Ahn… Aa… Hhah…” Meanwhile, Lio’s helpless little noises were a succulent treasure panted into Galo’s ear.

It was easy to revel in the sweet smell of Lio’s welcoming scents. Not to mention getting lost in the feeling of having someone in his arms, though of course the grinding was a nice wave of pleasure too. Just having Lio under him was a beautiful complement to his existence, a literal weight that existed between excitement and responsibility—but having Lio drape placidly underneath him while moaning and grabbing at him was the last straw.

He was so, so hard. So hard it _stung_ , and all the blood that had left his brain had engorged everywhere else with painful need.

Mouth watering, Galo ran his hands deeply up and down Lio’s sides with a growl, savoring the compression of skin, muscle, and bone. Lio gasped a heady breath into his ear and Galo, in reply, bit into Lio’s shoulder. It didn’t break the skin, but it was certainly enough to leave a temporary dent. Lio groaned inhumanly, completely unwound, and tilted his head to the side to facilitate, going slightly boneless. Every muscle in him relaxed noticeably, except for his hips, which twitched desperately, pressing their lengths together.

“ _God_ ,” Galo breathed, “you really want it, don’t you?”

He wrapped his arms around Lio’s back protectively, and set a kiss on the bite mark.

Lio’s hand pulled weakly at Galo’s hair. Galo was drowning in his scent; no longer crisp and refreshing, it had turned smooth and velvety, like a sweet cider liquor, and Galo was getting drunk on it.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Lio replied at a whisper, grinding them together. “I want _you_.”

Galo nipped at him one more time, then licked up Lio’s neck with a single long stroke with the flat of his tongue. The hot, slick line ended just below Lio’s ear, which Galo took in his mouth and nibbled on. Lio sighed, more of a groan, and lovingly dragged his hand over the back of Galo’s buzzed head, down his sturdy neck and over his shirt, until it found a nipple of its own to grip.

Eventually, the sounds coming out of Galo’s throat grew haggard and dizzy. He stopped his dry grind and pushed his top half away with a half growl-half gasp, pinning Lio to the couch with his hips.

The little Omega gazed up at him curiously, eyes hazy, but Lio soon cracked a smile as he caught his breath. He was memorizing the vision of Galo hovering over him, skin shiny with sweat, body shivering from exertion and need at the same time. Lio shifted a little underneath him and chuckled. “God, you’re strong.”

The fireman’s face switched to a grin, and he shifted a little too, preening. When he had his weight where he wanted, he took a hand and brushed Lio’s sweaty bangs out of his eyes tenderly.

“I aim to please,” he admitted softly, matching his touch. “Still feeling good? Want more?”

Lio swallowed hard. “Yes please.” He immediately went in for a kiss, tongue snaking out to get Galo’s lips to part. Soon enough, they were broth gripping each other’s faces and battling for ground in each other’s mouths.

Lio wouldn’t have minded being lost forever in those big lifesaving hands, but Galo decided to go in for the kill and stroked over Lio’s crotch again. He found the shape of the shaft, squeezed it, kneaded it with the heel of his palm. Lio gripped Galo’s forearm instinctively, and was forced to admit to himself just how goddamned _sexy_ the thickness of it was. As was the shape of his own body, laying ready and wanton, and, down the line of Galo’s body hovering over him—the straining lump hanging over him in the man’s jeans.

Lio, unmoving as all the feelings sparked through him, took a deep, shaky breath and then swallowed hard as painful, urgent heat rushed over him, starting in his crotch. His eyes locked on Galo’s; the Alpha was watching him with similar interest, unruly hair spilling onto Lio’s chest and neck. The blue mane curtained off more of the low light, glittering against the wall like so many fireflies in a stand of cattails.

Galo’s gaze flicked over him one last time, enthralled, and took the words out of Lio’s mouth when he suddenly declared a desperate, helpless, “ _Fuck_.”

Galo descended immediately, kissing him hard, thrusting his hips long and slow a few times even still clothed as they both were. But the angle was all wrong, one leg wasn’t even _on_ the couch; he took a moment to quickly rectify that and then was dry humping Lio properly, as Lio sucked in breath after breath and just tried to hang on against Galo’s weight and size. Not that he was complaining—he held onto Galo in a welcoming embrace wherever he could, knees splayed apart and ankles locked over Galo’s hips.

All he could process was the pressure and the heat and the scent. It was all encompassing, like a drug that just got him hotter the longer it went on. It came out into his brain as pleas to be bred and owned; to _finally_ be full of an insatiable, amazing Alpha’s cock and come.

For his part, Galo scooped him up in his arms and, breath hitching desperately, erratically, demanded pleasure out of Lio’s body. His voice was ragged and loud in Lio’s ear, almost too loud, were it not feeling so good to mind-meld with it. Lio’s entire body was thrumming like a string for want of Galo Thymos to play him. He knew he’d be bruised tomorrow, but he didn’t _care_. He _wanted_ the pain, and all the pleasure that came it. With being used to meet an Alpha’s needs.

“Hahh…huhn…God, _Galo_ ,” Lio whimpered around those massive shoulders. The light from the room was almost entirely eclipsed by them, and the air between their bodies was growing blisteringly hot.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Galo cursed again, but this time it was more of a prayer. He slowed his thrusts until he forced himself to press the base of his cock into Lio’s to keep his hips still. “I wanna be _in_ you,” he rasped into Lio’s ear, begging for permission.

He was laying fully flat against him, which couldn’t have been easy on Lio’s tiny frame. His hands gripped tight whatever they held—in this case, Lio’s lats and hair, from underneath. The question—the _promise_ —in their greedy hold drove the treacherous heat in Lio wild, and he tilted his head back with a breathy moan.

“I want you in _my mouth_ ,” Lio replied unconsciously, a curse and a plea both.

Galo bit into the tender space between Lio’s neck and shoulder in response, hitting a pressure point. The Omega beneath him quivered like jelly and his legs, already searing hot, twitched open wider with a feral keen. Lio’s hands clutched at Galo’s shirt, around his back muscles, and he whined deep in his throat briefly, mind completely lost.

Pheromones, too, released around them at the marking. Galo’s earthy scent turned sharp and tangy, a scent to cut through and ward off any others. Lio’s apple-like scent of attraction, first crisp to bring awareness, then shades of sugary to lure and disarm, now turned overripe and a touch acidic, showing he was receptive and amenable. It was so intoxicating Galo forgot where he was for a second, what he was even doing, for want of friction and wet heat to conquer.

“God dammit.” He hissed and broke away from Lio, however reluctantly, to pull the man out from under him. He propped the little Omega half upright on the armrest by simply grabbing him under the armpits. Lio was pliable and had a blasted look on his face, lost to the heavy storm of hormones raging inside of him. He was panting deeply too, thin chest rising and falling visibly.

What Galo did next did not help things. He set his knees heavily into the couch on either side of Lio’s hips but otherwise held himself upright. His thighs pressed against Lio’s slim sides as they went, trapping him between them. In the end, it left his crotch right about at the level of Lio’s head, were he to sit up properly.

Being so close to the source of the scent of Galo’s sex took away Lio’s last bit of control. His head tipped down where he lay; his eyes widened and his pupils dilated. And then he was rising, small hands sliding up the back of Galo’s legs to help them both stay upright. With a breath, his mouth attached to Galo’s clothed cock; at the same time, his hands splayed flat on the tight denim coating Galo’s clenched, steely buttocks, urging him forward from behind.

Galo groaned, arm bracing heavily on the couch back to the point that the muscles were visibly straining. It wasn’t the easiest balancing act, but damn if he wouldn’t make do. He couldn’t leave that hungry look unfulfilled, those scents unanswered. He felt so hard he could explode.

No wonder some Burnish actually did.

Subconsciously, he hooked his ankles together under Lio’s tented knees for balance, and then carded his free hand through Lio’s thick blonde hair. Gluts tensing, he pulled that head near with a shaky sigh. Lio went willingly, mouth welcoming what it found, and Galo could have shouted for the relief and sweet pain of finally having something tight and warm around his throbbing dick.

Lio lipped at his erection, tracing the outline and moaning into his clothes for the pleasure. The vibration tingled up Galo’s spine, and he was quickly rocking into the skinny little Burnish, wishing he could go faster, deeper. Lio’s hands were the sweetest pressure, and it was driving him mad.

Lio. _The_ Lio, whom he’d been daydreaming about so long—currently submissive underneath him, eager for his cock. Galo could hardly breathe, the thought was so overwhelming.

Meanwhile, Lio, for his part, had found the tip of his cock through his jeans and was sucking it until the fabric was soaked and searing.

“Hhhang…Lio I…I need to be…” Galo pushed Lio’s head back via a hand to his forehead, more firm than rough, but the sheer power trip that was Lio Fotia’s head rolling on his limber neck, his eyes glassy and unfocused, bangs strewn messily about under Galo’s fingers while his lips glistened with spit, was so heady it actually caused Galo pause.

“ _Fuck_ ,” he explained breathlessly, and then bent down to taste those sex-painted lips.

Lio hummed into his mouth, working the kiss like the cock he still wanted to suck. When Galo let go, he cupped Lio’s jaw to steady him, and inadvertently slipped his thumb into his mouth.

It was a welcome intrusion though by all appearances, and Galo marveled at how Lio’s eyes slipped closed and he started suckling it without a word. His shoulders hunched in too, trying to look small and defenseless.

 _Hell_.

Was that an Omega thing? Or was it just for Galo alone? Galo shook his head out with a growl and unzipped his fly one-handed. It didn’t matter right now.

What mattered was getting his cock inside that beautiful, willing face.

Omega heats were characterized by two things: an absolute submissiveness in the face of an erect Alpha, and a need to be mated with that wouldn’t abate until they had something penetrate their sexual erogenous zones during deep arousal.

It lead to a lot of stigma about Omegas being slutty and easy and downright desperate. Truth be told, they were in legally inebriated states of need, in which they could suffer damage or in the worst case, die from medical complications, if they weren’t taken care of. Though Galo had seen people in desperate heats before from work, he’d never experienced _this_ before. Seeing it on Lio of all people was…a trip, to say the least. No wonder he’d been hesitant to show it to anyone. Maybe it really was true that the brightest Burnish were the most physically sensitive too...

Galo, on the other hand, an Alpha in his prime faced with a willing Omega in heat, to whom he happened to be incredibly attracted anyway, was just turned on and harder than he could ever remember being outside that one time Lucia had slipped him something she’d been making and—

“ _Who knew the leader of Mad Burnish was such a slut?_ ” he whispered, enthralled, petting a hand over the fluffy head possessively.

“Ah?” Lio asked, coming off his cock a little, just enough to make the noise. He paused his ministrations, though his chin was still on Galo’s balls. His distant eyes, pupils blown, gazed up at Galo drunkenly.

“Oh. Oh shit. Sorry,” Galo admitted hoarsely, dick twitching insecurely against Lio’s face, and yet hardening anew a moment later for the image. “I h-have no idea where that came from?”

Lio chuckled dryly, the unfocused look in his eyes unchanging. “Your subconscious, obviously.”

He shrugged and hummed, closing his eyes as he went back to contentedly sucking Galo’s extremely hard dick through his underwear. One hand slid forward, massaging his balls as much as he could in the heavy denim they were still straining behind.

“Hhhahh…God…” Galo bent over him, hand stroking lovingly over the back of Lio’s head. “So good.”

“’S okay,” Lio’s soft voice went on against Galo’s cock. He didn’t sound completely there. “You want a slut, you got ‘im. Go ahead and fuck ‘im.”

“L-Lio…” Galo’s palm smoothed down Lio’s neck and down his spine, accompanied by a haggard sigh. “P-please…”

Lio’s delicate hand slipped up Galo’s inner thigh, snaking a few fingers under his open zipper. The button was still done, so he massaged Galo’s length as best he could, gazing up at Galo with big eyes as he tried to find the hole in the cloth.

“Yes?” Lio asked in a tiny voice, thumb stroking slowly over the button.

“Hhhhnrg.” Galo shook his head, his brain aching as much as his knees and back. “C’mere Lio,” he breathed shakily. “I need your help.”

He sank down until his butt was on the couch and then leaned back, all the while gently pulling Lio down with him by the neck. Lio let himself be guided, crawling on all fours, and soon Galo was propped up against the other armrest and Lio was situated between his legs.

Galo took in the view momentarily, something in the way Lio got on his hands and knees and crawled up his body sending another stab of need, and possessiveness, through him. The Alpha unfolded his legs, opened them wide on either side of Lio’s little frame—and then the image was complete. Lio didn’t even look at him; he simply slunk down until he could lip at Galo’s cock again, this time just through the cotton underwear. His forearms were so much thinner than Galo’s thighs, it really was an amazing sight.

“I like you like this. Between my legs,” Galo husked, stroking Lio’s hair. His voice deepened, rumbling softly in his chest.

“Mmmn,” Lio moaned in agreement, the intensity of Galo’s voice rumbling through him and setting every part it touched on fire. “Warm.”

“Can I convince you to go down on me?” Galo asked, smiling just a little.

“No convincing required,” Lio whispered. He smirked, confidence thrumming through him.

“Well then.” Galo unbuttoned his jeans fully. “Go for it.”

Lio’s smile turned humbled. He picked the fabric apart delicately but he hardly needed to—Galo was so hard that he sprung right out. Lio sputtered in surprise, and then again when he took in what he saw.

“Oh wow,” he mumbled. “Big.”

“Sorry,” Galo apologized shyly.

“For what?” Lio grinned. “I didn’t say it was _too_ big.” He went back to work, stroking his middle finger’s tip up the side and then down the underside lightly. He slowly grew more aware, and in a few moments, had swirled a fingertip at the slit to gather up the precum. Galo groaned. “Gueira was right though.”

Galo gulped as Lio spread the slick around his fingertips almost scientifically. “Buh?”

“Oh nothing,” Lio said with a dirty grin. “We were just taking bets.”

Galo shuddered, but managed to get out a few coherent words. “Wh-who won?”

Lio paused, then flicked his gaze up to Galo, even as he dipped down and pressed his nose heavily against the base of Galo’s cock. Set against his face, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, smiling sloppily as the heady scents swirled around him.

To Lio, it was wonderful to feel his inhibitions fall away like water moving so much sand; to Galo, it was amazing to watch the object of his affection play with his dick, which suddenly seemed impressively large, when compared to the size of his face.

“I did, of course,” Lio said, “because I get to be here with you.” Cupping Galo’s member in his palm, he licked up the thick vein on its underside, slow and deep. His tongue was wickedly powerful, much to Galo’s tortured delight. “Tha’s the besh rewarh I c’ld geht.”

Galo sighed, romanced. Lio continued his ministrations.

His lips were soft too, dexterous even, starting with quick and shallow kisses up and down Galo’s shaft. Lio’s tongue pressed hard up one side, down the other, and then he squeezed the ridge of the tip with his thumb and curled forefinger.

“Uhhgnnnng…” A garbled groan pulled out of Galo’s throat. His knees twitched; his hands clawed into the couch. Eventually, he gave up and gripped Lio’s shoulders, then his hair, pulling lightly over and over again.

Lio chuckled once, then kissed the head of Galo’s cock. “Good?”

Galo nodded vigorously, his hands still tangled in Lio’s hair. “Th-think you can handle it in your mouth?”

When Lio looked up at him, he wiggled his eyebrows challengingly. “Who do you think I am,” he snorted. “I fucking love sucking cock, okay?”

Galo sputtered. Lio lifted a hand. “And anyway, thick ones are better for this sort of thing, y’know? It’s the other stuff that might be problematic. Throats are stretchy.”

Galo’s response was to blink desperately, and then grip the back of Lio’s neck, firm with intent. “Then show me what you got.” Galo eyed him. “S-slut?”

Lio grinned and nodded, friendly. It made Galo wonder what that smile would look like with come all over it. “Slut. Sweetness. Naughty little tart. What have you, so long as it’s classy, I’m probably cool with it.”

“Noted.” Galo shook his head and urged Lio down by the neck, a little in awe of how Lio was transforming. For his part, Lio smiled and shrugged, descending as requested, shoulders loose. “What matters is that I get your pretty little mouth around my cock,” Galo finished.

“Yessir.”

If Galo’s dick leapt at the word, the only thing Lio did to chide him was a soft huff of breath, which preceded his tongue swirling around the tip several times—and then the exquisite heat of his mouth finally, blissfully taking him in.

“Slowly,” Galo warned with a hiss, eyes closed and brow furrowed, both hands resting over Lio’s head, threaded thickly through his bangs. “I want to memorize the feel of you, the first time you touch every inch of me. Try to go all the way down. But slowly. Slowly…ah, like that…”

The heat descended and Lio acquiesced splendidly. Galo floated in the bliss as Lio worked him for several minutes, panting and moaning and cursing quietly, fingers twisting in Lio’s hair.

When he opened his eyes, it was to see Lio—all that was beautiful, snowy, formidable Lio Fotia—tucked vulnerably between his splayed legs, delicately attentive to his task. His little mouth was stretched around Galo’s girth; he could feel the sides of Lio’s hot throat around his burning erection, as well as the slick, heavy slip of his tongue. His hand gripped and stroked and pressed, taking off the edge off his need and building it up in turns.

And when Lio’s pretty pale eyes took a moment to gaze up at him, big and subservient, Galo made a rather strangled noise.

Lio responded by pressing himself all the way down Galo’s length once, holding himself there, nose against Galo’s pubic hair and the head of the cock pressing into his supple throat. When Galo whimpered, Lio made a show of pulling all the way off him, long and slow and slick, with a _pop_ at the end. He held the base of Galo’s cock to keep him from coming, pressing into the thick, sweaty vein, spit slicking his lips and glinting with reflections of the string lights.

An intense, almost feral gaze held Galo’s attention, and then Lio asked hoarsely, “More?”

The Alpha gulped down air. “More.” He grabbed the back of Lio’s head. “My pretty little Burnish cumslut.”

“ _Mmmmmmn_ ,” Lio made a long, contented moan as he descended, a happy, hungry scent exuding from his pores. He followed the push and lift of Galo’s hand, bobbing ever faster and deeper. Sweaty strands of his hair flipped back and forth with wet, lewd sounds from his mouth and sharp breaths through his nose; Galo started to push up into him a little bit, though _god damn_ did he have to hold back not to just deepthroat the poor guy.

“ _More_ ,” he demanded, haggard. “Ah, like that. S-so good…” He tilted his head back, but couldn’t decide if he wanted to watch his cock disappear into Lio Fotia’s pretty face or simply live in the pleasure that was coursing through him, eyes closed. “Ah, hahnnng, Lio. Lio, you’re so good to me…!”

Galo’s grip twisted in Lio’s hair, and Lio winced around his cock—but he didn’t stop, which only made Galo press harder into his heat. Both hands guided Lio’s movements, pressing him down. “That’s it. Take it all. Sweet thing.”

The words just slipped out, but Lio moaned deep in the back of his throat, a wantonly sexual and mind-broken noise Galo had never heard from anyone before. But he knew, instinctively, exactly what it was: he’d found a tender spot to push.

“You like that?” he husked, slowing Lio’s movements. He was close though; a little bit more and Lio would have him over the edge. Galo leaned back, panting. “Being my sweet little _thing_?”

Lio moaned, and almost made to pull off and answer, but Galo held him steady. “No, no. You take your Alpha’s cock until he’s done with you.”

Lio’s eyes flashed, and his face turned bright red, all around Galo’s cock. Carefully, making sure to check his reaction, Galo pushed up into him, as deep as he thought he could go. Lio, far from freezing up, had his eyes roll up slightly in his head in pleasure as he forced his throat to relax.

“There you go. Such a good little treat.”

Lio, fingers clenched in Galo’s thigh, body shuddering with need, moaned pitifully—and desperately.

Galo pulled back and let Lio breathe, then pushed in again, and another time just slightly faster, holding him tightly around the back of the neck as he did so. His hand easily encompassed Lio’s nape and then some, and he twisted his top fingers into his messy mop of hair. “There. You’re doing so good,” Galo narrated, lost in the heat building in his body. “Help me come, my blazing wild fire.”

Galo released his guiding grip, brushing his fingertips over Lio’s cheek lovingly. He found one of Lio’s hands and threaded it through his, and then left him to do his work.

Lio squeezed his hand back. He bobbed a few times, quick, short, hot strokes that brought Galo to the edge with sparks behind his eyes.

“Ah, _fuck_ ,” Galo swore, voice pitching up. His hips jacked up erratically, his hand twitched in Lio’s painfully. “Ah, fuck. _Oh fuck_ …”

Lio took it as a sign to _suck_. He went as far down as he could and then _pulled_ on Galo’s hard-on with his tongue like he was trying to suck the semen right out of it, all the way up the length until the tip.

There, he massaged the head of Galo’s cock with his tongue, locking it to the roof of his mouth. In a few short waves, Galo’s voice was so loud in his own ears that he forgot where he was, and with a shout—

“Ah, _Lio_ —!?”

—Galo came explosively.

Lio pulled off quickly, but that just meant everything ended up in a trail over his face and hair. White ropes of thick come went up into his bangs and part, even the crown of his head and the hand of Galo’s that had been up there too.

Startled, Lio sat there a bit, bewildered and tense, while Galo caught his breath.

“Oh my God.” He heaved several times, spots swimming in front of his eyes. “I haven’t come that hard in…hell, maybe _forever_?”

He must have lain there, completely boneless and draped in sweat, for at least a minute or two. When he came back to himself a little, he saw Lio sitting between his legs, with his own legs tucked neatly underneath him, picking tenderly near his eye.

“Oh shit, sorry!” he exclaimed.

Galo reached for him, but Lio batted his hand away, one eye closed precariously. “Maybe I should come in _your_ eye next time,” he pouted lightly.

“It’s in your hair, too,” Galo mourned, looking sad. “Are you mad?”

“Aw, man,” Lio muttered, going to touch at it, then thinking better of it. The dangerous bits wiped away, he eyed Galo, definitely plotting how to get absolutely disreputable amounts of ejaculate into his blue mane in revenge.

But then he suddenly laughed sunnily, even disheveled as he was.

“Nah. But you _can_ make it up to me,” Lio purred, pulling Galo’s hand onto his own crotch, still hanging and hard inside its cloth covering. “Kiss it and make it better.”

He bared pearly teeth at his partner, very much presenting the mess to him. Galo swallowed, caught between arousal and self-preservation. He sniffed the air a few times, mental gears slowly grinding. Lio worked Galo’s hand in the meantime, using it to produce his dick from between the now-open fly.

“Like what you see, Mr. Alpha?”

Galo nodded, mind slowly catching up to his hand, and gradually taking over from Lio. Lio fit nicely into his hand, and he was surprised to find that Lio wasn’t cut at all. But that made the glide all the smoother, and Galo was honestly a bit fascinated by it. He squeezed Lio exploratorily, and found him nearly as rock-hard under the sheath as he had been.

Lio winced and groaned, hands fisting in the cloth over Galo’s thighs. “Ah, _that’s good_ ,” he hissed, his mouth falling open into a quivering O. All around him came the scent of sweet apple turnovers, baked and crispy. “So good…why does this feel so _good_ …?”

Galo was mesmerized by the sight of the pretty Burnish Omega he admired so much covered in his come, wantonly fucking himself into Galo’s hand, and being laid totally low for it.

Truly, heats were such a gift to the world.

“S-say…”

Galo could hardly get the words out.

“Say my name.”

Lio was on all fours around and over him, slowly moving his hips and taking in every moment of Galo’s grip, chords of troubled pleasure visibly coursing through his back. He was fully clothed—they both still were—but his head was bowed, his pink cock was out, his clothes were rumpled, and his mouth was slightly open, panting. Precum slicked Galo’s palm.

And then Lio’s eyes opened, just slightly. He blushed, staring down at Galo’s abs.

“Mmm…hhhrf,” he managed. It took Galo a second, but he realized it was a bashful, playful noise. Galo gripped the base of his cock a little tighter, making Lio hiss.

“You want to be good for me, don’t you, Lio?” Galo coaxed.

The Burnish bit his lip. “Y-yes sir…”

“Then you know what you need to do.”

“B-but…” Lio mumbled, a tinge to his cheeks that complimented the higher pitch to his voice. “…Why? Sir?”

Galo had no idea what Lio was trying to get out of him, and _thinking deeply_ during sex was a strange and foreign feeling that got more awkward the more it went on. But at the sight of the heavy cast to his frame, shoulders pushed in insecurely, an inkling came to him, and he figured he might as well try it. His instincts were raging at him to do it, so maybe Lio’s were, too…? The scent certainly seemed right for it…

“Because I want you to know that you’re _mine_ ,” he explained, as calculated and cold as he could get it, which admittedly wasn’t that much. Still, he tried to capture the commanding Alpha Voice that came out of him sometimes of its own accord, able to rouse others around him to attention—or submission.

A very long, strange breath flowed out of Lio, and his slender shoulders visibly loosened, like some weight had been lifted from them. He somehow grew even harder, which told Galo it’d worked.

“Oh, _Galo_ ,” he whispered like a prayer. “ _Galo_ …”

Lio almost seemed like the admission of his name hurt and relieved him in turns. Like there was something he was holding back still. “Galo, I…”

“Say it, Lio,” Galo prompted, putting one hand on the man’s shoulder to brace him. “Don’t hold back, Mad Burnish.”

“ _Galooo_ ,” he whined. His thrusting quickened, as did his haggard breathing, loud in Galo’s ears. His hands gripped and regripped, searching for purchase on Galo’s meaty shoulders. “I want you. I’ve wanted you for so long.”

The words started tumbling out of him at break-neck speed. Lio, eyes closed, braced his hands on Galo’s shoulders and dug in. Galo didn’t even mind the nail marks, for what he was hearing, seeing.

“ _Make me_ _yours_ ,” the little Omega whined.

Galo’s eyes widened. He licked his lips, felt a great release of hormones into his system that made his stomach drop and marking scent pool on his skin.

“Come for me, Lio,” he commanded, barely feeling his own voice. “And you’ll be mine forever.”

Lio, ever one to please his loyal elements, did as told, and then collapsed onto Galo’s chest, quivering and panting and sounding just a little bit like he was sobbing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are going to be so many kinks in this by the end, I may have to add some angst to the tags (Sorry Annie) and also change my name and go into hiding. LOL
> 
> Honestly writing Lio as the sub is really hard, I feel like I get all the kinks backwards. What do you all think? Was it believable so far?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the well-wishes on this fic. As a single person, I can say you all are really validating my relationship style X'D. I can't thank you enough for that.
> 
> This fic has gotten so long. It's really run away with me...
> 
> Side note: So I was doing a bunch of research on Fanlore about A/B/O fics, and apparently the My Hero Academia fandom has pioneered the idea of a Gamma, aka The Enigma, the Alpha who tops all Alphas. Bless them, I didn't know I needed that until it happened, and now I'm 100% here for it.

Galo, feeling sated and virile, basked in the pride of a job well done for as long as it would last in his tired muscles. Laying on the couch with Lio on his chest, syrupy thoughts flowing slowly through his mind, he stroked a soothing hand idly down his dozing omega’s back.

_“I only like it if it’s kinky.”_

_“Make me yours.”_

_“Did anyone need to call you Daddy?”_

_“Yessir.”_

_“I fucking love sucking cock, okay?”_

_“I want you. I’ve wanted you for so long.”_

_“You want a slut, you got ‘im. Go ahead and fuck ‘im.”_

_“Oh wow. Big.”_

_“So long as it’s classy, I’m probably okay with it.”_

_\--"Thing. Treat. My pretty little Burnish cumslut.”_

_“Mmmmmmm.”_

_\--"You take your Alpha’s cock until he’s done with you.”_

_Lio’s fingers desperately clenching into his thigh…_

_\--The feeling of his tongue on his cock as he came…_

Galo could glean a few things from this evening. Specifically, that Lio was into praise and degradation. Of a dehumanizing variety, wrapped up nicely with a ribbon of possessiveness from an authoritative partner. One that played on physical and social power dynamics, and, perhaps, even went so far as ownership. But one that walked a fine line of class.

He wondered if Lio liked to get dressed up, or tied up. Those two things tended to go well with the rest. If he liked playing with Galo’s Alpha status and twisting societal expectations, maybe talk of breeding would turn him on, too…?

He was even trying to get Galo to command him there, for a while toward the end, so…

It made sense though. Lio lived in the desert as a rebel element, and the leader of said element. He lacked structure beyond what he imposed on himself, being at the top, and people in that echelon either liked to hurt people or be controlled by them, in bed. Having experienced the former plenty from the receiving end, Galo was rather glad Lio was turning out to be mostly the latter. (Not that he wouldn’t mind getting stepped on by some sexy heels, Lio’s beautiful scorn could look down on him all night and he would die happy and bruised just right.)

He’d never really known much about the earlier parts of Lio’s past, but he was starting to get the picture of the level of society he’d come from. The way Lio ate pizza with a fork. And not just any fork, but an extremely proper fork, one finger laid on the back of the tines. The way he didn’t bend forward when he put food to his mouth, but instead sat ramrod straight and only spoke when he was fully done chewing. Never rubbing oily fingers on anything but a napkin and then setting it neatly to the side.

The way he never went out in public without being properly dressed. The standards he held for the quality of small things, like pens and towels and boots. The type of things he knew, about history, philosophy, and ethics.

Just the way he held his head, when he was gazing into the distance, envisioning a future no one else could see. The language he used when he raged about injustice. The way he said certain words, when his accent came out. And, one certainly couldn’t overlook the form and power with which he swung a rapier or held a bow.

Or the amount of rage coiled up in those wiry, almost dainty little Burnish muscles…

It was starting to all make sense to Galo. Lio was a sophisticated leader of upper-class upbringing, and wanted to let go. He needed someone powerful to help him do that, who could get into his head, but whose hands could keep him, and all his secrets, safe too. That required a special kind of handling, a special kind of trust and understanding, that Galo was more than happy to give. After all, he’d been supporting powerful men from the shadows for a long time.

Honestly, Kray had been like that too. He’d needed and wanted all that. It was easy to see after the parties, the toll all his various responsibilities took on him when he was a little drunk—how the mask slipped a little, how his sighs became all shades of despondent, how his shoulders sagged with some heavy weight Galo wasn’t privy to at the time.

But the man had never seen Galo as capable of holding him up, so he’d never gotten the chance to try. The hand Galo had offered him had been taken only to be held down. In the end, it’d always been Galo being used as his stress relief, rather than having his own agency to calm and tame Kray’s fears as an equal partner. Kray actually tended to get mad at him when he tried, and even more angry when he managed it.

Most people thought Galo was stupid though, and the people who liked having an airhead around didn’t really want that kind of thing from their himbo. So he never much got the chance to get inside people’s heads in bed. But he could. He understood society’s expectations a lot better than people gave him credit for, given that he’d grown up in an orphanage, basically watching everyone around him struggle with their lack of place, and desperate hope to mold themselves into something desirable by society’s standards. Or, barring that, a life at least marginally successful by their own standards.

But being able to have your own standards was hard when you were abandoned. It made a lot of people desperate to be seen as useful, valuable, or acceptable, with being loved a pipedream reserved for down the road someday.

Lio never talked about his family. Galo didn’t know if they were dead or not, but…

The number of times he’d batted around the words “daddy” and “sir” in the last six hours was very telling about where that relationship had ended. And the twisted scars it had left.

It made him think, again, about how Lio was an Omega, and a Burnish, and some kind of queer that strutted around in leather and ruffles and black armor with three horns.

That couldn’t have made his prim and proper family very happy.

Kray hadn’t been entirely new money. His family had been well off, and one side of it had been _very_ well off, and that particular segment had come out of the woodwork after his star began to rise, helping it rise further. Some of them had been warm in a professional way towards Galo, but the rest had looked at him with outright sneers over their wine glasses. Kray had often protected him from those looks, oddly enough, though looking back on it, it was probably simply something similar to defending a pet. Galo was _his_ , part of _his_ story, and thus any affront at Galo was an affront on Kray. Galo had figured that last part out after a while, the politics of it anyway, and Kray had been pleased to help him learn how to hide the trappings of his station when it mattered.

Galo hummed softly, gazing down at Lio’s tired blond head. Lio fit so nicely on his body. He rose and fell with Galo’s breath, and even though Galo couldn’t quite pin it, there was something poetic about the intimacy of rumpled clothing and a relaxed, sweaty body resting underneath his hand with absolute trust and calm.

Had Kray ever looked at him like this? He used to like to think so. But if the man had, it’d probably only been out of idle curiosity, tainted with the man’s demons.

Galo didn’t want that for any of them. Not Kray. Not himself. Not Lio. Not even his own memories.

But Kray was a Gamma, a rare and rumored breed that could have an effect on Alphas the way Alphas did to Omegas, if they wanted to. They could hide as Alphas, but Galo knew. He knew it very intimately. That was part of why he wasn’t a typical Alpha, as people thought of it.

Lio, likewise, didn’t act like a typical Omega in any way it was conceived. That was an interesting mystery, one that made Galo tingle in all the right places, but presumably his family had known about it since he was born. Since female Alphas could conceive and often had sturdier offspring than Beta or Omega females, and both sexes of Omega generally had fertility problems, males were traditionally seen in Western society as useless blights. In centuries yore, depending on the economy they would alternate between being seen as curses from God and trophies to be dressed up and shown off. When they weren’t being kept by the wealthy as hyper-sensitive sex pets, that was.

But, it wasn’t like Galo was judging him for that. Far from it—all these elements, these stigmas and weights, were something he could actually work with, and that excited him. He didn’t know any of the details of Lio’s scars, but it could be fun to learn them, and then twist and mold them in his hands. And healing for Lio, to dig into and clean out.

As for Galo…

He placed a peck on Lio’s hair—the clean hair—the only part he could reach without disturbing him.

He was in the camp of Alphas that just wanted to be wanted.

Galo had a nurturing streak, so he wanted the people around him to be happy and thriving and safe. Building and protecting that in itself brought him everything he needed: hope, pride, happiness, friends, family, goals to achieve, a place to belong. Everything else for him was second to that. Especially now that he wasn’t sure how he felt about continuing with being a firefighter, because it had all been built on a series of lies from bottom to top.

After all, Kray hadn’t been the hero Galo had thought he was. Kray hadn’t even _liked_ him, supposedly, though he questioned that a little. Still, how could he believe he was worthy of being on the force, now? Since it was Kray’s support and approval that had kept him going and believing himself to be a hero in Kray’s image. And Kray who had even gotten him the job, as Ignis had originally loved to remind him. Not to mention all the lies about the Burnish. Nowadays, his work, and his place in it, was framed far less glamorously to say the least. And he couldn’t assume he belonged there.

Couldn’t assume that he was good enough to even _think_ about being with the amazing, steadfast, upright, and studly Lio Fotia as anything but a fling.

And yet.

Here, dozing on his chest, was that very person. A person who might actually take his offered hand the way it was intended.

Such that one day, even if he wasn’t loved in return by the person he admired, at least he could finally be useful to them.

* * *

“Thank you for meeting me here,” Galo said, settling down with a mug in his hands and at the outdoor café one morning several weeks prior.

“Any time,” Meis said, grinning over his own cup as it got to his lips. “Since you were so kind as to pay.”

“Anything for Boss’s favorite normie,” Gueira agreed, stirring his multiberry iced tea to mash the blackberries a bit more. “So what did you need some advice about? Finally getting a gas stove?”

“I wanna ask Lio on a heat date.”

Meis instantly spit out his coffee. Gueira snapped his straw in two.

“WHAT?!” they cried at the same time.

“You think you’re good ‘nough for Boss?! Huh? Do yah?!” Gueira sputtered, hand on the table and half risen from his seat.

Meis, meanwhile, stared at Galo like a snake about to strike. “Oh really now? Do tell.”

The town’s favorite firefighter eyed Gueira but eventually turned to Meis. “Well, it’s just, you know. You’re his best friends and I…I don’t want him to have a bad time of things during his first heat in the city without his powers, and…” Galo’s gaze dropped as he fiddled with the large plastic shake cup. “I like him and I don’t want him to have to be alone, is all.”

“He’s _got_ us,” Meis explained simply.

“Yeah, _us_.” Gueira nodded and pointed at himself with a thumb for good measure. “In case your nose is broken, I’ll remind you I’m a fantastic Alpha too, pal.”

Galo blinked at this, several times in quick succession. “Well yes, but…I was under the impression that he’s not into skinny dudes with gross hair.”

“ _What did you say?!_ ” Gueira spat, standing up.

Galo’s neck craned back, and without blinking, he set his drink aside, and very coldly smiled.

“But,” Meis cut in coolly before they could ignite the sparks going between them. “I encourage you to ask him, if you’d like.” He smoothly leaned back, one arm over the chair back and one leg folded over the other.

“Wait, What?” Gueira sputtered, whipping his head around.

Meis only shrugged. Without looking at him, he took Gueira by the wrist and pulled him down like a curtain pull.

He went, after a few tugs, scoffing. At almost the same time, Gueira and Galo turned their noses up in different directions, grabbing up their drinks to deflect the tension.

And then, slowly, Galo’s gears turned.

“Wait…’has you’? You two have…with him…?” he suddenly turned pale and stared at the ex-Burnish pair.

Gueira’s mouth pursed, an eyebrow raised. Meis, meanwhile, just laughed heartily. “Aww, we broke him.”

“Serves ‘im right,” Gueira concluded. “Same thing we did to the Boss.”

He grinned wryly and glanced at Meis, chin raised. Meis smirked and chuckled, taking a sip of his beverage.

“You two have…with him…” Galo sputtered, blushing hard.

“Mmm hm,” Meis went on. “And it was great.”

“Fuck yeah we have,” Gueira egged. “Never gonna forget that beautiful inferno’s slender—”

“ _Gueira_ ,” Meis cut in sharply.

“Ah, hem, right. Right, yeah. N-nevermind.”

While Gueira hid himself behind his tea and worked open his own collar a little, Galo’s eyes were slowly growing wider.

“How was it?!” he suddenly interjected. He came forward on the table, all earnest innocence. “What did he like? Please tell me!”

Gueira’s mouth gaped, straw forgotten. Meis chuckled, astounded. “That’d be telling,” he sniped back smoothly for them both.

Galo frowned, perplexed. He crossed his arms, sitting back in his seat with a huff.

His wasn’t completely out of place in the slender chairs of the fancy sidewalk café, but with the bright blue hair, one couldn’t say he blended in, either. Still, as the wind rustled through that soft mane, draping over those sculpted muscles and handsome jaw smooth with youth, eyes bright and thoughtful, it was easy to see the charm that’d gotten their boss daydreaming about this city boy on slow summer afternoons.

“But here’s what I _can_ tell you,” Meis began, setting his cup down and folding his hands over the table while Gueira twitched next to him. “He’s very smart. He likes being spoken to.”

“Yeah?” Galo looked up, eyes suspicious with hope.

“ _Yeah_ ,” Meis leaned in, conspiratory; Galo leaned in to match, like a fly to nectar.

“The thing about the Boss,” Meis said, his finger in the air and head tilted.

“The thing about the Boss,” Gueira agreed, hand cutting the air like a lance,

“Is that if he _wants_ you, he’ll have your clothes off in an hour.”

“But if he _likes_ you—like, romantically…”

They both stared Galo down. Galo nodded studiously, unblinking.

The two men exchanged glances, and then Meis said, “He’ll get really _shy._ ”

Galo’s eyes widened.

“He’s super flirtatious when he wants to be,” Meis added. “He knows what he’s doing in that regard. If you think he’s doing something on purpose, he is.”

“He most certainly is,” Gueira agreed, rather fondly.

Galo’s eyebrows pushed up at that, but he turned back to Meis as the man went on, “But he’s British, right? Don’t compliment him. Compliments hurt British people. They can’t handle them.”

“Nope,” Gueira agreed, head bobbing. “Not at all.”

“Give him _approval_ , instead. He can accept that. It’ll go right to his heart and make him swoon.”

“Mmhm. Especially if you grip his hair in your fist when you _augh_ —”

Meis elbowed him. Gueira rubbed his side with a few choice grumbles, followed by a muttered apology.

“Look, Galo,” Meis said, dropping the pretentions, “You’re a decent dude, far as I can tell, and the Boss likes you. But you’re not Burnish. Things’re gonna happen that don’t make sense to you. When they do…just ease up and be kind, okay?”

“Sure thin—"

“You hurt him irreparably and I’ll fucking break your knees,” Gueira added with a friendly smile.

Galo sighed. “Do you really think that little of me?”

“I dunno,” Gueira said, with just as much of a smile. “But remember: This Alpha knows how to play with _fiyah_.”

“And I have a mech and a gun that both put _out_ fire?” Galo asked, head tilted. “And an entire team to back me up, who _also_ have such mechs,” he added after a second of thinking about it.

“And how well does that work at three in the morning when you’re fast asleep?”

Galo frowned.

Meis held out an arm over Gueira’s chest without even looking at him. “We’re not there yet and anyway Lio can take care of himself. He’ll be the one closest to your balls, after all, if he says yes.”

Galo blinked, swallowing thickly.

“But. I hope you understand the position you’re in.”

“And what…would that be?” Galo hedged, eyes narrowing.

“You’re the errant ward of Kray Foresight.” Galo blanched, and Meis held up a calming hand. “And however that’s actually shaken out between you, whatever actually went _on_ between you, Lio’s the leader of the Burnish rebellion. Everybody’s gonna think one of you is unduly influencing the other for some kind of political machination.”

Galo’s frown deepened, this time to one of conflicted understanding. Meis waited patiently, and even Gueira tilted his head, trilling at the younger Alpha gently.

“But,” Galo said after a while, “That’s no reason to not try.”

For some reason, both of Lio’s generals smiled at this. Gueira even put his chin in his hand and tapped his long fingers on his cheek as he looked Galo up and down with something more than idle interest.

A strange flutter came to life in Galo’s stomach, and he quickly looked back to Meis to make it go away. “If I gave up with something as easy as that, what kind of man would I be? Not one worthy of him.”

Meis smiled gently, apparently appeased. Gueira, for his part, whistled lowly. “See?” Meis said. “That right there. Is why he likes you.”

Galo shrugged and went back to his drink. “Are you done grilling me? I just wanna ask the guy on a date. But if he’s still involved with you two, you coulda just said. You don’t need to do this territory-marking bullshit.”

“Well, that’s the thing. We…” Meis turned to Gueira, and Gueira turned to Meis, and a long moment went between them.

“You ever been in a war?” Gueira asked finally.

His aggression, playful or not, had finally dropped, his body language and tone changing to something subdued. It was like there was some tension bubbling just under the surface.

“When we found Lio…or I guess, really, when Lio found us,” Meis explained for him, “I think he had been alone for a long time.”

Gueira nodded in agreement. Something dark came over Meis’s eyes, and his mouth tightened into a line.

“We worked on him. We’ve tried to help him feel like he has a home with us. But you know. He’s younger than us. Younger than you, probably, by at least a little. He doesn’t act like it, he had to grow up fast, like all Burnish. But I get the feeling his story is…especially complicated. Even for one of us.”

“Yeah,” Gueira added, voice suddenly hoarse in its hush. “I was a delinquent in a goddamned Miami hellhole and being in a biker gang seemed like a much better way to use my powers than sitting at home getting beat on by my stepdad and trying not to kill him.”

“I was just the gay side of goth so there was no way in hell I was fitting in the backcountry of Texas with Satan’s flames at my fingertips.” Meis shrugged and pointed at Gueira. “And then _this_ guy came riding in like freakin’ Ghost Rider with alligator boots and well. That was it for me. Satan came in on a flaming motorcycle and I said ‘Jesus take the handlebars, I’m happy to be his Persephone.’”

Galo’s eyes scrunched shut, trying to follow the metaphors. “Didn’t Jesus die in the Great World Blaze? After he rose again?”

“Something like that. Anywho.”

“Yeah, uh, anywho. If he rose again the last place he would be is Texas. _Or_ Miami.”

“Or anywhere between,” Meis scoffed. “That road was shit and so were the people on it. And God it was so hot and muggy, I was literally on fire and I couldn’t handle it.”

“Uuuuh?” Galo said, starting the recognize the familiar look of veterans getting lost in their traumas.

“Right. Ah. Right. Huh. Where were we?” The two of them exchanged thoughtful glances, then Meis snapped his fingers. “Oh, right. Lio. Kray Foresight. You.”

“Oh! Yeah. War. Okay. My point. Buddy. _Baby_. Listen.” Gueira came forward, tilting his drink and its fresh straw at Galo. His regular rakishness was gone, replaced with a thoughtful softness. “We got close. We had something to give him, and he us. And it was fucking beautiful, as much as it was fucked up. But. It was never the sort of thing you could carry into peace time. Y’know?”

Galo frowned at him, thinking it over.

“Maybe you don’t know?” Gueira asked after a minute of Galo’s Deeply Thinking Face.

“It’s okay if you don’t,” Meis offered. “We’re just trying to say…”

“He’s a good kid.”

“With a beautiful soul.”

“Who deserves someone who can love him and mend him.”

“Not just hold him while he slowly crumbles and dies.”

“Yeah.”

“He’s much too important to us, and the entire Burnish cause, to dick around with people who just want a fling and can’t understand what he’s been through.”

They gazed at Galo. A chill went down his back in the silence.

“But we’d fucking die for him all the same,” Meis concluded, “if it meant keeping him from further heartbreak."

Gueira nodded sagely, or at least as much as he ever could. "We’re that kind of brothers.”

“I see,” Galo managed, deciding to forgo the incest joke.

“Glad you get it!” Meis rapped on the table.

“I still wish you’d think a little more of me,” Galo groused. “The threats weren’t really necessary.”

Meis shrugged. Gueira smiled angelically. “That’s just how we roll!”

“What would Lio do if he found out you’d chased off all his dates with threats of violence?”

The two of them suddenly paled.

“Uh huh.” Galo leaned back, smug. “Thought so. One for team Galo.”

“You can’t tell him!” Gueira squeaked.

“Oh ho ho.” Galo grinned. They fidgeted in their seats. “And what will you give me for holding this precious secret of yours, huh? Let’s see…I’m not really into breaking knees, so……………how about a weekend working the widows’ fundraiser car wash and you give me some tips on what Lio likes?”

The two of them gaped. Eventually, they sighed, one head titled back and one tilted down.

In the end, Meis was the first to rally and cleared his throat. “Fine. Just tell us the deets and we’ll be there. We’ll even bring more guys if you need. A-And…thank you for the drinks.”

“You’re welcome,” Galo offered coolly, sipping from his own. “Thanks for not breaking my knees.”

“Well, supposing you’re right and my fears are misplaced, which I’m not saying they are,” Gueira offered, “I might be amenable to that.”

“You can’t lie.”

“ _Dammit_.”

Galo laughed. “You two are so predictable sometimes.” Gueira glowered petulantly, but the cloud raining on his parade lifted when Galo said, “I can see why Lio likes you, too.”

Meis smiled sheepishly and shrugged. Gueira tried to maintain a manly exterior as he stared at the tines of the shade umbrella growing out of the center of the table.

“We’re all here for Lio, can we least agree on that?”

They nodded and muttered. Meis looked at the goings on in the café, then heaved an unusual sigh. “It’s all pretty serendipitous, isn’t it? How we came together, one by one.”

“Yeah,” Gueira said, not looking at either of them, but a similar memory reflected somewhere in the windows across the street.

Galo, for his part, swirled his drink, staring down at it like it was full of prophetic tea leaves. “He’s an incredible person.”

“The flame doesn’t lead people astray, that’s what he always says,” Meis muttered, turning back to Galo. “You might ask him what the flame says about you.”

Galo frowned, curious. “Don’t you mean ‘said’?”

“No.”

When Galo looked to Gueira, the man only nodded in easy agreement.

Galo’s frown deepened.

“Blow your mind a little?” Meis quipped.

Gueira smirked audibly.

Galo’s frown deepened even more, until he groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. “God _dammit_ you guys.”

“Hah!” Gueira ribbed. “One for Mad Burnish.”

“Perhaps even two,” Meis agreed.

“Not a chance!” Galo groused. He swiped up his drink again, legs crossed, thinking furiously about the whole thing. “Freaking magic fire-people…”

Gueira laughed good-naturedly, and Galo had to admit it was rather charming. “Don’t forget ‘with flaming bikes.’”

“Those were so _cool_ ,” Galo mourned from his pretzel position. “You don’t know how much I _wanted_ one of those.”

“Ooh, and now you’re wanting to sleep with the enemy. You’re two thirds of the way to traitor, boy-o.”

“Man don’t even joke about that, I almost _died_ that way.”

“Hah…yeah, okay, sorry. Still, I want to see you on a bike in leather and chains, a few tatts and piercings, maybe a studded collar…”

Gueira and Galo both stared at Meis with equal parts horror and arousal.

“Wh-what?” he asked, a bit bewildered. “I didn’t even mention the eyeliner and nail polish?”

“Holy shit,” Galo muttered.

“Damn that’d be _guapo_ ,” Gueira sighed, looking at Galo with that same dreamy, glittering up-down as before.

“What?” Galo asked, startled.

“What?” Gueira parroted back, equally startled.

“You telling me you guys have never done a BDSM fundraising calendar?” Meis interjected to the trainwreck.

“Of course not,” Galo said, then exactly a second later, “Holy shit we should though. We could call it 'midnight fire.'”

“See?” Meis said. “I have great ideas.”

“Damn I miss my bike though,” Gueira lamented, perhaps to get his mind away from the increasingly attractive topic. “I gotta show you the one I’ve half built in the garage. Working on the flame part, but the design’s about right.”

“Ooh, really?” Galo asked, perking up again.

“Fuck yeah. You free Sunday?”

“For that? Hell yeah.”

“In the meantime,” Meis interjected. “Before you go off on that tangent for an hour. You want a tip for a heat date, right, Galo?”

Galo’s head, which had been leaned intently toward Gueira, suddenly swerved to stare at Meis with all the power of a thousand-watt tractor beam.

“Well well.” Meis’s mouth cracked into a grin at this, revealing pearly, pointy teeth as his chin perched on steepled hands. “I suppose I’ve got _one_ thing I can tell the young buck.”

“And I as well.”

The two delinquents leaned forward and, one to either side of Galo’s head, a hand sheltering each set of lips from prying eyes, they whispered the first of many secrets Galo would learn that weekend about Lio Fotia.

And Galo only grinned mischievously, turning red.

“That’s amazing,” he replied. “And I’m so into it.”

“Thatta boy,” Gueira encouraged, turning pink as he went for his own drink. “Do that and he’ll have a great time.”

Meis, for his part, sat back and nodded. “Good luck.” He winked. “Don’t get burned.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone once said Guiera's sexuality is Chaotic Bisexual and I will go down with that ship. 
> 
> Don't worry, the smut returns next chapter. :3
> 
> Thanks for reading. <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to @mispromising for her continued Beta support.  
> Many apologies to you readers for Lio's British accent. That idea just tickles me endlessly, hope you like it too XD

In time, as their bodies started to cool and the cuddle hormones started to subside, Galo tapped his hands on Lio’s rump. “Hey, sexy,” he rumbled to get his attention.

Lio grumbled, a protest. “Whut.”

“Why don’t we shower? I can put our clothes in the laundry after, and maybe we can watch a movie and cuddle or something. I’ve got a shirt that shrunk in the dryer you can wear.”

“Hah, nice,” Lio mumbled into his chest, mustering himself just enough to give Galo’s muscles a swirl with his fingertips. “Have you started watching that one new show everyone’s talking about? On Getflix?”

“Ah man I saw that on my queue. Dark detective series with Lovecraftian elements are the best!”

“I think so too. Make me buttery popcorn and it’s a date.” He paused, humming thoughtfully to himself. “Second date?”

“Date Round Two, heating up! All right! Though I might fall asleep on the couch.”

“That’s fine. Sounds nice, honestly. Been a while since I fell asleep in anyone’s arms, and yours are just incredible.”

Galo blushed deeply, but quickly tried to hide it. Lio smiled and booped him on the nose.

The sweet smile it elicited made Lio’s heart race, and it was his turn to hide a blush in Galo’s shirt.

“I’m glad we got you off,” Galo admitted.

“Me too,” Lio agreed, sounding thoughtful. He swirled his fingertips over Galo’s pec with idle happiness, then pressed a warm kiss into his skin, where the collar of his shirt revealed his taught, tanned body. “Let’s do it again soon, eh?”

“Nee hee hee. Yes.”

“Silly.”

“You were really sexy there. Being all submissive. Even if you were a bit sassy.”

“Heh. You wouldn’t like it if it were easy.” He gently nipped Galo’s shirt. “I gotta get this off you.”

“Yeah,” Galo agreed on both counts. “You liked it?”

“So, so much.” Lio grinned to himself. “You’re a stud.” He kissed him again. “I liked it when you told me what to do. It’s believable in the moment, but not worrying, somehow. And your dirty talk is cute.”

“Hm.” Galo thought about it, gazing at the ceiling, slowly stroking over Lio’s hot skin. “I don’t know that ‘cute’ is really what I was going for.”

Lio grinned against him quietly. He dragged his fingers idly over Galo’s skin where his hand lay as he spoke. “Seems like you’ve got a great foundation to work with. Let’s talk about it some more. Maybe tomorrow? Or just after the shower?”

“Would love to. I…kinda held back, I wasn’t sure what would spook you and it was hard to think.” He snugged Lio to him, big arm flexing noticeably. “Like, really hard. You’re so fucking _hot_.” Galo took a deep breath. “God _damn_ you’re sexy on your knees.”

Lio squeaked, blushing. He tried to distract himself by eyeing Galo’s bicep where it appeared from under his T-shirt sleeve, and perhaps it was too good a distraction, because an urge struck him, and he gave in. He licked the vein sitting atop Galo’s bicep, and reveled in how stupidly basic it made him. But that was the magic of Galo: he could let go around him, the way he couldn’t with anyone else. 

He was freeing. Perhaps a force capable of breaking all his chains, even.

“What?” Galo asked, half laughing, half scoffing in shock as he shifted to look at the new wet spot.

“Tasty Alpha,” Lio said, snuggling in. “I will be needing seconds.”

Galo chuckled. “As you wish, Your Burnish Majesty.”

“Ee hee hee hee, yes, good.”

“Dork.”

“ _Your_ dork.”

Galo snugged him close. “Mine.”

Lio snuggled into Galo’s dips and curves with a happy purr, arms wrapped underneath him. “Yours.”

They stayed like that—each dozing in each other’s warmth, breath calm and steady—until Galo cleared his throat and carefully sat the two of them up. Lio groaned, but once he smelled the mix of sex scents, he crinkled his nose and had to admit they needed it. “Sorry about your shirt,” he said sleepily as they pulled apart.

“Eh. Worth it.” Galo took the opportunity to hold Lio in his lap, a smile on his face as he gazed up at his pretty (if messy) face. It was getting red around the ejaculate, which he felt a bit bad about.

“What is it?” Lio asked softly, once he was done inspecting the damage to Galo’s shirt. He suddenly tensed and blushed red. “If it’s about what I said there at the end—” 

_I’ve wanted you for so long._

_Make me yours._

“No no,” Galo assured, shifting his weight a little to free a hand so he could brush a lock of hair out of Lio’s eyes. “I’m just admiring the view.”

Lio sputtered. He made no coherent noises, but many cutely incoherent ones.

Galo’s face fell into a fond but somber smile. He gazed distantly at Lio’s hand, where it rested on his bicep. “And, if I’m honest…?”

It was an irresistible look on such a built guy. “Y-yeah?” Lio gulped.

Galo’s hands stroked playfully over Lio’s thighs. “I was just remembering how nice it is to have someone in my home to look after.”

Lio’s heart just about jumped out of his chest. He even felt a bit faint, with all the blood that rushed to his head.

“You’re beautiful,” he managed to croak at last, shell shocked and feeble.

Galo smiled, touched. Lio, in a surge of feeling, grabbed him by both cheeks and captured his lips, sloppy and gross as he himself was.

“S-So what do you think?” Galo asked, once Lio came up for air, burying his face in Lio’s hot, slender (and relatively clean) neck. “You maybe…think you want to stay…the weekend? Until your heat’s over?”

Lio wanted to kiss all the insecurity right off that face. So he tried, with one long, meaningful smooch. “Yes.”

Galo squeezed him hard in return, a triumphant hug. “I won’t let you down. I promise! You won’t regret it! Thank you, Lio!”

Lio chuckled and climbed down off Galo’s lap, gently pulling the Alpha’s hand along in his. “Well, for a start, let’s see if your shower can live up to my expectations, shall we? My face is getting itchy. All those little swimmers trying to penetrate cells they’re never gonna get into, kinda irritates one’s skin.”

Galo choked on his own spit. “I can’t ever unhear that!”

Lio shrugged coolly and looked for all the world like Galo was an insect that deserved to be ground under his erotic boot. “You’re the one that made them, take responsibility for your crimes.”

“Crimes?!” Galo gawked.

Lio smirked and flipped his hair. “Against my beautiful humanity.”

Galo sputtered again. Lio winked as he headed into the apartment. Once his back was to Galo, he crooked a single finger over his shoulder, beckoning him to follow. 

It was the most standard apartment full-bath possible, with everything in white and almost show-room clean. There was a shower-tub combo on the back wall, while a small vanity, mirrored cabinet, and toilet sat along one wall on the way to it. Everything was remarkably picked-up for a bachelor’s rental, which Lio attributed to the fact that Galo lived there only half-time and spent the rest at the station. So, to most people, it could have been called boring, but to Lio, who’d lived most of his life in bombed-out gas stations in actual deserts, it was like a luxury hotel.

In the end, it was the shower curtain that caught his eye. It was a Japanese design, a blown-up print of an ink-painting of firefighters battling flame-spewing dragons. Lio smiled when he saw it. That smile only grew when he spotted the tiny, perky succulent living on an open shelf above the toilet in a whimsical pot, next to Galo’s hair products. The space wasn’t nearly as bright and colorful as one might peg Galo for, but that was all right. It had style and class, and those were the sorts of things that made Lio’s heart race in all the right ways.

Drawing Galo into the room, two fingers crooked into his, Lio planted his bare feet on the bathmat, delighting in the soft, fur-like strands lifting up between his toes.

Galo shut the door behind them and then leaned against it, head tilted and hands together underneath his hips. As Lio took a hand towel and wiped off his face, he looked the little omega up and down with a mousey grin and glittering bedroom eyes. “So what are we doing here,” he purred.

The Alpha licked his lips and sniffed the air subconsciously as his gaze skirted up and down Lio’s skinny frame. Lio tossed his head back with a toothy grin and then struck a pose, towel cast aside and hands on his hips. He let Galo have his fill of the view—thumbs in his pockets and fingers dancing over his own hips—and when those beautiful blue eyes lifted once more, Lio winked at him.

“I would like to do a ritual of a sort, with you,” Lio began, taking a step forward, and then another. His head tilted back and he bit his bottom lip, showing his throat in invitation.

“In the bathroom?” Galo whispered. He tilted his head down, eyes going half lidded as he watched the display.

“The only place for it.” Lio held his hands behind his back as well, hovering an inch from Galo’s body. He rolled back and forth on his feet once, twice, until, one time he leaned in, his hands appeared and walked up Galo’s pecs.

Galo giggled. Still on the balls of his feet, Lio hummed and rested against his forearms, which were laid against Galo’s ample chest like he was readying to do a plank.

“Yeah?” Galo’s smile grew fond, and he wiggled a bit where Lio leaned on him.

“Yeah.” Lio took that last half step in. His hands swept up Galo’s neck, and the man’s blue eyes fluttered shut. “Undress me.”

Galo’s eyes snapped back open.

“And I’ll undress you.” Lio pushed onto the balls of his feet and stole a soft kiss. “Piece. By. Piece.”

Lio’s hand tenderly petted over Galo’s chest, like a wife might smooth down her husband’s suit lapel before going to work on a big day. When his cherubic face looked up, Galo couldn’t help but kiss him back. His hands broke free of their prison and held the little man around the hips, pressing the two of them together at a sway.

“Okay,” he husked, feeling the pleasurable lightheadedness of all the blood draining into his lower half anew. “And then what?”

“Then we see where we are and go from there.” Lio gave him one peck of a kiss, then another, soft sounds echoing in the space between them. “And in the meantime, we steal as many kisses and touches as we can.”

One of Galo’s hands had abandoned its post to cup Lio’s cheek; each thick fingertip made his skin tingle almost painfully, it was so alight. “What do I win if I win?”

“Heh.” Lio pressed a warm kiss up into his lips, then another, each one deeper than the last. When Galo pulled their hips together with a meaty grip, the noise Lio made into Galo’s mouth was wonderfully needy.

After getting caught in the maneuver, though, Lio’s delicate fingers were digging below Galo’s beltline, searching for the hem of his shirt. Once they found it, they curled up his sculpted sides, almost moonwalking up his skin, slowly revealing ridge after ridge of abs, until Galo had to raise his arms. He helped Lio pull off his shirt, and when it was tossed aside, the view genuinely took the little dragon’s breath away.

Galo, leaning against the door as he was, head titled coyly to the side and messy hair falling over his bedroom eyes—it was something to behold already. But Lio’s sharp gaze followed the curve of his thick neck down to his muscled shoulder, then over the puffed-up pecs. Down the ridge in between them, to a rolling landscape of a sweaty eight pack catching shadow and light. His muscles weren’t as defined as some, but damn if they weren’t the biggest Lio had ever personally encountered. The Omega’s hungry eyes—and the tips of his fingers—tracked down to where the show ended, at a little line of blue hair going from the belt of his damnably low-sitting jeans to his bellybutton.

A breathy chuckle hit Lio’s senses, distantly. “Hey. I’m up here.”

Lio obliged him a look, but only as a diversion while both hands slid up Galo’s forbidden trunk to his little hanging fruits. His mouth was _watering_. “Is that so. I hadn’t noticed.”

He leaned in and kissed one of Galo’s nipples, then audibly took it into his mouth and started suckling it.

A haggard sigh escaped Galo’s lips and he tilted his head back, knocking it painfully on the wood. He shifted his stance, so Lio could better fit between his legs.

“You’re magnificent,” Lio was saying, “utterly fantastic.”

Galo didn’t say anything. He _couldn’t_. He simply watched that little blond mouth go to work on him, nose against his skin and curved lashes gracefully shut. It was almost like butterfly touches, but it sent little electric waves straight to his crotch, and the lascivious, wet noises didn’t help things. It was only compounded by Lio tracing and groping different muscles around his torso that neither of them knew the names of.

But Lio still had all his clothes on, and as good as that rumpled, half-open button-up made him look, Galo wanted so much more. Lio’s scent, spiced like a warm mulled cider now, wasn’t helping matters. It invited him in, made him feel warm and safe and wanted, and got all his blood engorging every erogenous zone he had. Swallowing thickly, feeling his cock twitch in his jeans (now sadly buttoned up again), and his heart thump in his chest, Galo mustered his resolve and went to work searching out Lio’s belt buckle, even though he couldn’t see it for want of Lio’s head in the way.

The tender tugs at his pants made Lio giggle. It was a sweet thing, one he relished and adored, and he paused his ministrations to watch Galo’s big hands work, the veins and tendons popped out from how warm he was.

“Thank God you don’t have seventeen of these on right now, I might go mad,” Galo hissed, to which Lio only closed his eyes and smiled.

He had a beautiful smile. It lit up the space around him, and Galo often dreamed about it, it made him feel so happy to see. But it was a rare gift to be graced with—until just now. Lio couldn’t seem to stop smiling, and Galo’s heart raced at the thought that he’d caused it.

Strangely enough, Lio’s choice of location seemed to be working. It _was_ quieter in here, and, small and simple, the space felt more intimate too. Like there was no need to fill a big empty room with personality or bravado. Instead, it felt like they could whisper their tender promises and that would be enough, just themselves, bare and simple.

Galo cinched Lio’s belt tight in order to get the hook out of the eye, and Lio let himself be pulled with a purr. It was a wonderful fantasy, and soon Galo had him whirled around, tickling down the front of his lithe abs to pull the cotton fabric of his shirt up. He kissed at Lio’s neck, once, twice, then even his ear for good measure. Lio giggled; Lio hunched over, ticklish; and soon enough Galo had his shirt halfway up his chest.

He paused there, seeing how his partner would react, but the worst was not realized—Lio simply assisted by raising his arms with a hum, limber wrists slung over the back of his head to rest there. Galo kissed his fingers and then drew them down to hang at Lio’s sides. He curled the collar of the shirt down over Lio’s shoulders, laying soft, slow kisses down the back of Lio’s neck and over his spine. His fingertips swirled down Lio’s feverish skin, dragging fabric with it, and soon enough the shirt was pulled off, joined with Galo’s on the floor.

Lio tried to turn, but Galo pulled him backward against his chest before he could. His hands petted up and down Lio’s front multiple times heavily, until they came to rest, crossed, cupping his sides. Lio was pliant, soaking in the sweaty, pheromone-laden heat, and when Galo nosed against his neck, he bowed his head with a wanton groan.

Galo laid kisses along his spine, lost in the feeling of the tender blond hairs against his lips, and Lio’s naked skin against his own. He hummed into each kiss, and when Lio finally breathed, it was to let a quivering sigh shake through his frame. “Oh,” he mumbled, succumbed. His forearms lay over Galo’s, holding them in tightly; much of his weight was being held up by Galo’s embrace.

Galo reached up to cup Lio’s left chest; his hand easily encompassed it. He bent Lio forward a little, so that he could place a kiss over his heart from the back. The heart that was now thrumming heavily in his hand, and had once been almost lost to ash. 

“I’m so glad you made it,” he whispered into Lio’s skin. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad I’m here too.” Lio might not have totally understood what he was getting at, but it was probably for the better. He turned around in Galo’s arms, and purposefully set both of the man’s hands to loudly cup his ass. “That was a great date, and some very nice head.”

Letting his train of thought go, Galo gripped reflexively, and Lio giggled mischievously. He lay against Galo’s statue-esque physique, one leg bent at the knee, and then snuffled his face into Galo’s chest. “I’m gonna enjoy falling asleep on these genuinely god-like pecs.”

Galo couldn’t entirely bite down his grin. So he did what anyone in his position would do: he flexed.

“Oh! Oh man! You can do the thing?!” Lio pulled back swiftly and laughed, hands covering his mouth. “Oh God Galo, you’re amazing.” He looked away, rubbing his chin with one hand, then looked back again, searching eyes a little wild. “Please tell me you practiced that.”

“Of course,” Galo replied, nodding perfunctorily. And then he did it again.

Lio laughed so hard he had to tilt his head back to the ceiling. His knees bent, and his Adam’s Apple bobbed in his seductively slender throat. Pearly teeth appeared, as did shallow crow’s feet, and one of his hands thumped at his own chest.

“Now,” Galo said, coming closer at a purr, “you gonna go the last little bit and see what else I can do with no hands?”

A blush crept across Lio’s proud cheeks, but he rallied valiantly and stood his ground. “Oh I think I know, but I’m very excited for the show anyway. After all, it’s not _every_ day the Hero of the City performs his famous cock routine.”

“Heh, it _could_ be.” Galo purred encouragingly as he circled in again. He reached out a hand, two fingers sliding down Lio’s side into a beltloop. He hadn’t totally gotten the belt unthreaded, having gotten distracted in the middle, so his jeans were still very unfortunately in-tact. “You still haven’t told me what specifically you’d like the show to entail, though.”

“Hmmmm,” Lio walked the fingers of one hand upon Galo’s, then spun away on dancer’s feet, tapping at his own chin in thought theatrically. There wasn’t much room to maneuver, but they did their waltz anyway, switching places every few moments. “I suppose audience participation is required.”

“Oh absolutely. It’s just not the same without.” Galo smirked, one hand on his hip and the other going down his own body. He splayed his fingers so that it showed off the shape of his erection beneath his jeans. “And tonight’s a _private_ show.”

“It is, isn’t it.” Lio licked his lips. “Whatever did I do to deserve such a thing?”

They gave each other long up-downs, but it was Galo who was the first to make a move. If Lio wanted to be chased before he’d allow himself to be taken, then by all that was good, he’d chase him, and then he’d _catch_ him.

“Oh you did all sorts of things,” Galo shrugged theatrically, playing along. He came up directly next to Lio, trapping him against the vanity-sink, to which Lio smirked and licked his lips. “You enticed me with your pretty features, and handsome words.”

He bumped his hips into Lio’s, leaning his weight where their semi-hard lengths touched, causing Lio to hiss, and his delicate blond brows to knit heavily.

“You stood by me through thick”— _bump_ —"and thin”— _grind_ —"and helped me save the world.” Keeping Lio’s hips trapped, Galo petted heavily down Lio’s slender arms. “You keep looking at me like you want me,” he added, dipping his head to set a kiss at the base of Lio’s now bare neck—to which Lio whined and rolled his head back. “And you’re giving off all these nice aromas to get me to come see you.”

He closed his mouth around Lio’s skin, slowly and deliberately sucking a hickie there.

“Or maybe…just to get me _to_ _come_.”

Lio keened. Galo’s grip tightened on his biceps, while his teeth nipped at the hot, tender skin at the side of Lio’s neck.

“And I’m _so_ hard. You’re _so_ good at it, you delectable little Omega morsel. So I’ve been thinking.” Galo’s voice deepened, a rumble deep in his chest. Each word was slow and measured, pressed into Lio’s skin in a new place. “Maybe I’ll just push you up against this sink. Or a wall. And take you as I please.”

Lio bit down a moan, and indeed, as Galo leaned into him more, he instinctively backed up onto the countertop, sitting on its surface, hands gripping the edge of the coated plastic. “If we ever make it to the bedroom, I’ll push you down right there.” Galo’s hand strummed up Lio’s back with a flourish, and then his other did the same to one of Lio’s calves. “Hold your legs in the air, watching as my thick cock goes in and out of you.” He turned his head and rumbled into the kiss he laid just below Lio’s ear. “I wonder how desperate a look I could get on that beautiful face of yours.”

Galo’s hands moved to Lio’s waist, holding him in place. With Lio up a little higher, he gazed intently into heady fuchsia eyes from inches away. “Maybe I could get you on your knees, gripping the sheets.” Lio’s breath hitched and he turned his face away, blushing hard, but then looked back a moment later, unable to stay away.

“Or _maybe_.” Galo swooped down and stole a kiss, then another, ever pushing Lio back under the sound of breathy little heaves staccatoing out of his thin chest. “You get down on the floor and suck me off while I tell you how good you are.”

His voice was utterly soft and ominous. In contrast, a noise came out of Lio’s throat that was not at all becoming. In the end, he simply quivered there, bottom lip bitten, brows knit, and crossed feet pulling against Galo’s back to draw him in. When the Alpha obliged, Lio wrapped his arms around the back of the man’s neck in desperate welcome.

Their eyes locked, and Galo leaned forward, ever forward, until Lio’s head was against the mirror and Galo was an inch from his lips.

He could feel the heat in Galo’s breath.

“Would you like that, perhaps?” Galo husked. “Being bred however I liked?”

All Lio could do was give in and close his eyes. “ _Yesss_.”

Galo stole a smooch, then a second, then more. Eventually, he pulled Lio into him, exchanging silent kisses, wanton moans, and desperate touches. 

“What shall I call you?” Galo asked eventually, voice deep and raspy as he went at the heat under Lio’s jaw. “You wanna be Daddy’s little slut?”

“ _Ah?_ ” Lio gasped wetly at the sound of the word, but Galo’s thick fingers held him tight.

“Should I take that as a no…or a yes?” Galo hummed intently into his carotid.

It was not an easy offer to refuse, when put in such a seductive package. “W-well, not on the _first_ date,” Lio chuckled, embarrassed.

“Heh,” Galo husked, lips whispering against his jawline. “Naughty.”

Lio laughed, cradling the Alpha close. “I should be saying that to _you_!”

“Hmmm,” Galo amended, making a point of crafting a thoughtful tone as he nipped at the soft skin of Lio’s neck. “Well. I am _terribly_ in your thrall, and I live to serve little Omegas in need. So ‘Your Burnish Highness,’ mayhaps?”

Lio giggled. “Ooh, I like that.” He pulled Galo’s head down against the crook of his neck, cradling it in an arm, while Galo’s hands held him tenderly around his sides. “His Fair Highness may have to break out his original way of speaking,” he added, switching over to Queen’s English.

Galo choked on a sudden laugh, even sheltered as his face was. “That sounds so wrong coming from you.” Even if he _could_ hear it once in a while on the edges of certain syllables. Still, he squeezed Lio happily.

“Gueira says the same thing. Meis thinks it’s hot though.”

“British twinks are incredibly hot though. Perhaps the hottest.”

“Hah! Fuck you,” Lio quipped, cheerfully running his fingers through Galo’s buzzed hair.

Galo pulled back and Lio reluctantly let him. The Alpha set his hands on either side of Lio on the counter and put his weight on one leg, the other crossed behind him. He looked Lio over, and Lio considered the view carefully. Galo was biting down a fond smile, and then bashfully swooped in and gave Lio a kiss.

“Wh-what?” Lio asked when he was done, accent fully present and demanding attention now that’d it’d been let out of its cravat.

“You’re amazing, is all. You’re so cool.” He laid another kiss on Lio’s lips. “And so goddamned _sexy._ I’m gonna enjoy this weekend so _fucking_ much… _”_

Lio’s face lit up like a glinting diamond. “Hee hee hee hee.”

The giggle was a devious one. He curled his arms around Galo’s head, claiming and welcoming him both.

Galo, meanwhile, was making fast work of kissing down Lio’s sternum, starting at his collar bone. “There’s just so much to like about you,” he was saying. “Your Burnish Highness.” When he reached Lio’s belly button, he swirled his tongue into the divot, and Lio squealed and clutched tight all around him.

Galo chuckled mischievously and kept going, purposefully leveraging his strength to press Lio’s legs apart by the knees as he dug into his still-unzipped fly.

“Hah. Yes, His Royal Highness is best pleased by his manservant’s careful attendancsahh!”

Lio jerked as wet heat spread over his cock. As a little squirt of precum leaked out of it, his legs sprang apart, heels looking for a surface to brace on. They found it in the grooves of the cabinet doors, rattling them loudly. The back of his head thunked the mirrored cabinet too, while his hands, shooting back behind his head to keep him from falling, gripped the thick edges of its frame. It was good it was screwed into the wall. “ _Oh_ _yes_ ,” he amended at a quivering hiss, hips bucking. “ _Verrrry_ pleased.”

Galo, holding Lio’s thighs to keep him balanced, chuckled and pushed himself down onto Lio’s wiry dark blond curls. He lapped and sucked with teasing slowness, bathing in the desperate, happy noises Lio made.

“ _Ohh_ ,” Lio said again, one hand coming down to tangle in Galo’s hair. “Such a good Alpha.”

“Mmm,” Galo agreed, soaking in the praise. His blue hair fluffed over Lio’s leg and hip and tickled up his abdomen. “Anything for his Highness,” he added, coming off his cock just long enough to speak.

Lio gazed over his own heaving chest to watch Galo servicing him. It’d been a long time since he’d just been so close to naked and able to enjoy it, and the heady freedom of his legs spread open for all the world to see, jeans unzipped, was taking hold of him. _What would mother think,_ popped into his head for some reason, and he giggled at it, a bit hysterically.

But it was true: her erstwhile son Lio, esteemed and well-bred, panting and gasping and _spread_ with a _male_ Alpha sucking him off, while he sat on a sink and that man kneeled on a tiled floor… And a poor dear American orphan of an Alpha of the working classes, no less. It was downright Dickensian.

The thought made his hormones rage with delicious disobedience, and the sheer size of Galo’s shoulders and back muscles from this angle weren’t helping things. Not to mention the size of his hands on Lio’s hips. They’d leave beautiful imprints tomorrow if he let them.

“Oh God,” Lio groaned, smoothing a loving hand over Galo’s sweetly bobbing head. “I think We are most best pleased with you.” Galo pulled off of him to lick a long line up the vein at the base of his cock, and then used one of those strong hands to grip him tight. “Ah…Bloody hell. May have to promote you to Lord of the Bedchamber.”

“I have zero idea what that means but keep talking, it’s hot.”

Lio laughed as much as he sighed and all in all rolled his eyes at the whole situation and regripped the mirror just for something to cling to because he couldn’t thrust. “It doesn’t matter, it means I like you and want to keep you and if I had any money you’d get an allowance.”

“An… _allowance_?” Galo sputtered. He started laughing, and try as he might to keep stroking Lio’s cock with his hand in the interim, the laugh rippled through him to full force and his hand went weak. He had to stop and rest his forehead on Lio’s bent leg.

“Not! Not like! Mowing a lawn!” Lio shouted, his voice pitching up tightly, and his accent mostly dropping. “Like! From the State! So you wouldn’t have to work!”

“I’m sorry man, I tried but…” There were tears coming out of the corners of Galo’s eyes, he was laughing so hard. “What just… What are you… What the fuck?”

Lio growled and gripped his own hair in a very American version of his typical dramatic flare, but he couldn’t help getting infected a little by the laughter too. It bubbled out of him, a repeat of the internal hysterics from before.

“This is a terrible time for a history lesson, and finance really doesn’t get me off,” Galo gasped around his chuckles, his right hand smoothing over Lio’s knee apologetically instead of his cock. “This has gotten not very sexy, hasn’t it.”

“Yes, _a little_ ,” Lio said, biting his lip. There was something controlled and commanding in his tone though, and when Galo looked up, it was to find Lio biting into his own hand and eyeing Galo thoughtfully. “But I bet you get hard at the idea of economic stability and a pension, don’t you?” he asked, taking that hand out of his mouth and resting his head in it, much the way he had when he was on his flaming carbonite hell-throne. “I sure do.”

Galo’s giggled stopped and his eyes flashed.

“Uh-huh. You seeee…” Lio bent rather impressively and took Galo by the shoulders. Eyes sharp, he coaxed him up, then pushed him back as Lio took his place on the floor. The little lion guided him further, until Galo was placed against the wall, fit just nicely between the towel racks. “The thing is…”

Lio gripped both of Galo’s hands and pinned them to the wall by his own head. Lio’s hands slid down to Galo’s wrists, since they were narrower, and like that, he leaned all his weight on his hands, cocked his hips, and gave Galo a sultry smirk.

“I think it’s a _lovely_ time for a history lesson.”

Galo sputtered so hard he actually spat in Lio’s face. “Oh shit, sorry—”

“Bad.” Lio playfully smacked his chin from side to side, and wiped his face on a nearby towel before going back to binding Galo to the wall. Galo, sweet soul that he was, let him.

“Now. You see. The thing is,” Lio tried again, accent slowly slipping back on, “in order to be a servant in personal attendance to royalty, you have to be of the highest breeding stock yourself.” Lio smoothed the fingertips of his left hand down Galo’s tendons, slowly tracing up his arm and onto his torso with a hungry stare and hungrier smile. “House servants come from, I suppose what would be middle-class, families trained in such things. But ladies and lords in-waiting, you see, those are often from duchesses and dukes, maybe sons and daughters of earls and counts and marquises.”

“Why do you pronounce the S in that—”

“Because a marquee is a billboard and We are proudly not French.”

“But the British aristocratic class is descended from the Normans, who were from Paris, so really—”

“Yes but _they_ were actually settled Vikings who took over Paris in the late Dark Ages so _really_ we’re just very slender Vikings mixed with all the statuesque parts of ancient Romans. Back to the lesson.”

“What, really?—”

Lio ignored this to swirl over a nipple, trace an abdominal, and dance his delicately-boned fingers just above the top of Galo’s pubic hair. He took in a deep breath of Galo’s scent through his nose, eyes fluttering shut before continuing, deft fingers starting to pry open Galo’s belt.

“So. To be Lord of the Bedchamber, means you get access to the innermost rooms of the palace at night.” He yanked on the belt leather with his free hand, the other still holding Galo’s wrist. With a soft clanking noise as its ends hung loose, he went at Galo’s fly.

“Palaces back in the day were like nesting dolls, series of rooms in a railroad pattern, and an attendant or two guarded each door.” Lio pushed down Galo’s clothing just enough to reveal the goods, which indeed, were more than ready for him again by the looks of it. “The king’s personal men- or maids-in-waiting lived in the rooms just before his, as a means to keep social callers at bay when desired. But also…”

His fingertip swirled over Galo’s leaking slit. Galo gulped as he watched the tender torture unfold.

“…To attend to His Grace whenever He liked.”

Lio hummed darkly and made a show of tasting the precum pooled on the tip of his finger. His smoldering eyes watched Galo’s as he licked his finger clean as slowly and suggestively as possible.

Galo, once again, gulped.

When Lio was done, he pressed that spit-slicked finger against Galo’s lips, and after a moment, dragged it across his lower lip until it was dried.

“So, the highest classes couldn’t be seen _working_. They were not people of _employment,_ heavens no. Their loyalty to the crown, the people, and later the country was not so frivolous and weak as to be made with _money_. So as they served the government, they’d get an allowance from the State, which, through the form of taxes, managed to make enough to support itself and all its landed gentry. I suppose commoners could consider it a salary but it’s really… _not_.”

“Did you just call me a— _ohhh_ , ‘s nice…”

Lio leaned in and started kissing down Galo’s chest, and slowly, inexorably sunk to his knees as he spoke. Galo’s hands rested against the wall, while Lio’s slid down Galo’s sides, and then his legs.

“And the Lord of the Bedchamber. Well.” Lio grinned, even as the sound of soft, dry kisses floated up to Galo’s ears. “I think you know what his particular service would have been.”

Lio kissed Galo’s balls, and then his cock, enjoying the smell and the heat and the different textures under his lips and tongue.

A luxurious moan slipped out of the back of Galo’s throat. His eyes were closed, his hands searching for purchase against the wall.

“But you know, I suppose you could also be a captured prince of a foreign land,” Lio added thoughtfully. There came the telltale sound of metal clinking, and a gentle tug against Galo’s thighs. “You could definitely make an argument for that, if you wanted, ward of Promepolis’s king.”

With feather-light touches, Lio pushed Galo’s pants and underwear down. Galo rolled his hips to facilitate, and then had to come face-to-face with the fact that he was standing there, completely naked, with his pants around his ankles and an Omega staring up at his erection.

When Lio’s gaze moved up to Galo’s face, he grinned. “I win.”

Galo let out a haggard breath. It took a while for his brain to catch up with the view. “Oh no,” he said eventually, hazy. “I forgot to ask what happens if I lose.”

“Hmm, I guess you’ll just have to find out.” Lio smirked and leaned in, taking Galo in-hand and stroking him affectionately. It didn’t take long for him to get completely hard again, but it was fun to feel it happen.

“ _Ohhh_ , _yessss_ ,” Galo groaned, eyes fluttering shut. “This is a good game to lose.”

With a new wolfish grin, Lio stood up and used his free hand to set Galo’s on his thin hips. He wiggled against him, and Galo quickly got the idea, pushing Lio’s jeans and underwear off in one go.

Lio stepped out of the pool of clothing and all but draped against Galo. He gave up the man’s erection to tangle his hands in his hair and kiss him in a flurry of need and grinding. Every inch of them that touched stuck together with warmth and sweat, sending sparks up and down Lio’s spine and heat pooling in his belly. It turned him on so badly he was starting to ache all over.

“Why is kissing you so much _fun_?” he swore, pinning Galo’s head to the wall so he could kiss him harder, faster, deeper, even on his tiptoes as he was.

“Heh.” Galo broke the string of kisses to grin toothily. He gripped a meaty handful of Lio’s ass, one hand to each side, and then smacked what he found. “Alpha powers.”

“Hot damn.” Accent gone, Lio ran his hands up and down Galo’s front, savoring the, frankly impressive, undulation of the landscape in awe. Further south, he pressed his erection between their bodies, finding glide against Galo’s sweaty skin and friction against his mound of curly hair. He was so turned on he was light-headed, his thoughts full of Galo’s alluring scent.

The firefighter pulled him in and ground against him, almost lifting him off the ground for a few strokes, listening to Lio hiss and gasp and moan between ever louder giggles.

Unable to stand the need for friction any longer, Galo growled and flipped them around, pressing Lio against the wall. Lio yelped, but soon was moaning as Galo rutted into his thigh. As Lio’s hands tangled lovingly around his shoulders, Galo pulled one of Lio’s legs up, then hitched him up entirely, until he was fully off the ground. Lio startled, but soon his legs settled around Galo’s waist, his arms twined around his neck, and Galo was kissing the surprised gasp out of his throat.

They started making out like that, heavy and hard and furious, while Lio’s body was compressed so very deliciously.

“Oh my God,” Lio moaned when Galo came up for air, followed by a delighted laugh. “I always wanted to try this!”

Galo grinned, pulled Lio off the wall, and made a show of spinning them around once, much to Lio’s shrieking pleasure. He hunched forward and clung tightly, while Galo nuzzled into his neck with his stubble. They ended up stopping in view of the mirror, and Lio, chin on Galo’s shoulder, looked at the shape of them together.

“I love this,” Lio sighed, molding himself into Galo’s neck and kissing it hard in gratitude. “I love—”

_You._

He barely managed to keep himself from saying it, and only did by biting into Galo’s neck lightly.

Galo waited a second, and then shifted his weight slightly. One hand came to rest against Lio’s back. “You love…?”

“How strong you are!”

“Oh! Hah, thanks.” Galo nuzzled into his neck, even though one of his ears was probably ringing now. “What’s the point if I can’t have fun like this, right?”

“Right!” Lio leaned back, arms around Galo’s neck and legs tight around his waist. They both gazed at each other for a long moment, in which Galo’s eyes turned terribly fond.

“Gosh you’re so cute and little,” he said, redistributing Lio’s weight so he could brush Lio’s bangs out of his eyes with a hand. “You hardly weigh a thing. How lucky am I?”

Blushing, Lio pulled back in and rested his chin on Galo’s shoulder, savoring the silky skin-to-skin contact that was making him so warm all over. “Yeah, I could stay here all day. Great view and comfy too. My own personal throne.”

“Hah. Right?”

They both sighed, one happily, one nervously.

“You really think you’re lucky?” Lio asked after a time. “To have met me?”

“Of fucking course,” Galo replied boldly, readjusting his weight again. Indeed, it seemed like it was barely a task for him. “Just look at us.” He turned them to face the mirror again. “We’re amazing together.”

Lio laughed and set a kiss on Galo’s forehead before resting his cheek on Galo’s hair. The view of the two of them—bright-eyed and sporting Galo, boisterous and kind, holding dainty and decisive Lio, visionary and nurturing—both smiling…he couldn’t remember the last time his reflection looked so…

…So _whole_.

“You’re a good guy, Galo.” He set his lips on Galo’s shoulder. “A really good guy. And a great Alpha too. I’m hereby upgrading this to the best date I’ve ever bloody had.”

Galo hummed proudly. He set a kiss on Lio’s neck in turn, and then cradled him close, a reassuring palm on the back on his neck. “I’d carry you anywhere you needed, Lio Fotia.”

Lio draped on Galo’s body with a hum, soaking in the warmth and safety. The…belonging, dare he say it.

_I love you so, so much._

“But for now, my sweet,” Galo rumbled into his neck, “I would really like to fuck you.”

“HrrrrmmmnGal _ooooo_.” Lio bit his lip and squeezed his legs together a little tighter as the bolt of fire shot through him. Galo shifted his weight a little and rubbed Lio’s back soothingly.

“What do you say to that, hmm?”

His higher arm, which was laid around Lio’s shoulderblades, swirled the tip of its middle finger suggestively on his skin.

Lio groaned. “Not here,” he pleaded. “Bed. Er…royal bedchamber.”

“All right,” Galo husked softly, chuckling. He set Lio down, then with hands delicately on his waist, separated them just enough to look him over. His gaze tracked down Lio’s body, lingering on the boney contours. He tapped his fingers on Lio’s skinny hips as he went, the pace of drumming increasing as his smile grew.

Lio swayed into him, and eventually, Galo swirled his fingertips over the shape of Lio’s pec, the nub of his nipple, the valley of his sternum. He circled a single finger in the divot of Lio’s throat, then traced it slowly up Lio’s neck until his head was tipped all the way back. Right when Lio’s Adam’s Apple bobbed under Galo’s touch, the man pressed in and pushed his other hand between Lio’s legs, palming his erection against his body.

Lio moaned and his eyes rolled closed. Galo’s hand hovered over his throat like he might squeeze it, but he reluctantly gave up the idea for now and smoothed his hand heavily down Lio’s chest instead.

“So what would you like until then, Your Highness?” Galo asked. “We still have to clean up, after all.”

Lio whimpered with need.

“Maybe this?” Galo placed a hand on Lio’s shoulder and pushed gently. It took a second, but Lio slowly sunk to his knees, his hands going up around Galo’s thighs lovingly.

“Will it spook you if I press you against the wall?” Galo asked gently, heavily petting his hand through Lio’s messy hair, carding the strands back. Lio thought for a moment, leaned into the touch, then shook his head.

Galo guided him there, which only required a few short movements. And then, like magic, they were so close Galo actively had to _try_ to keep his cock out of Lio’s face. Lio was sitting down naked against the wall, his mop of blond hair and smoldering eyes inches from Galo’s heavy erection. Galo’s feet were situated on either side of his legs, an imposing A frame. He leaned a forearm on the wall, taking in the view with head bowed and heart racing.

While he was doing so, Lio tilted his own head back, big fuchsia eyes gazing up at him.

It was a look of submission. Of vulnerability and surrender. But there wasn’t any fear in it; he was simply patient, waiting to see what Galo would do.

And, Galo liked to think, drinking in the view of his abs and pecs catching the light as they loomed above him like mountains.

As he was thinking this over, Lio smiled a little, encouraging.

With a deep breath, Galo pulled Lio’s arms up, until both of his wrists were pinned on either side of his head against the wall. Galo braced himself where they touched, and something about the sheer power of another human being giving up their freedom to him so completely sent a little thrill racing through him.

So he bit his lip and asked in that same tender tone as before, “Can I come all over you?”

Lio’s eyes flashed, but he soon bit his lip and glanced off. “Sssure,” he whispered, cheeks blushing like the wild roses and ripe apples he smelled like.

It was a beautiful view.

Galo sucked a hot, deep breath into his lungs, then tilted his head back in thought, one hand stroking over Lio’s head absently. It left Lio with nothing to go on to intuit his thoughts other than the sharp line of his jaw and the tension in his stance. The view of both his mastoids taught around his Adam’s Apple, over the curving rise of his pecs, wasn’t a bad consolation prize, though.

Galo answered by rolling his hips forward, sliding his hot, hard cock over Lio’s face. The Omega closed his pretty eyes, tried not to turn away; with an audible smirk, Galo cock-slapped him a couple times, side to side. Lio chuckled and ever so slightly opened his mouth. The slip of a pink tongue darted out to whet his lips before he tried unsuccessfully to swallow a grin.

“You’re really cute, you know that?” Galo husked. He shifted both of Lio’s wrists into one hand, and then stroked over Lio’s head with his other. His hand was big and warm where it came to rest on the back of Lio’s head; Lio hummed happily and leaned into it, eyes still closed. “You gonna take my cock for me?”

Galo guided the tip downward. A bead of precum smeared over Lio’s lips, and then, with a magical hum, his lips parted and Galo was sliding in.

It was so blissfully _warm_ and _rippling_. Holding Lio still by the back of the head, he pushed in, in, _in_ , until Lio’s nose came to rest on his curls. He was careful to make sure the man didn’t choke, but he could definitely feel himself dipping down Lio’s white-hot throat. Lio’s brow tipped down, clearly concentrating to hold his throat slack, but he didn’t move or try to pull away.

When his throat twitched a bit, Galo pulled back. Out, out he slid, until he was free and Lio gasped, a long line of spit dribbling down his chin.

But he didn’t _want_ to be separated from him. He wanted to be one with him, deep _in_ him. Wanted to _claim_ _him_ with everything he had.

It was a thought that zipped through Galo’s brain, took hold of his body, made his pupils dilate and his breath hitch, all his senses open up. He swallowed hard, his hold on Lio’s wrists twitching.

But who could blame him. Lio, with his slender wrists pinned to a wall, his head bowed, his naked body splayed and breathing hard and his erection going again—God, it was a beautiful sight.

“You’re such a good boy,” Galo found himself saying with the fervor of a curse. “Such a good, submissive little Omega for your Alpha. You gonna take your Alpha’s cock until he comes in you?”

Lio moaned, eyes closing tightly like it hurt him. Behind Galo, his toes curled. “Yessir,” he whispered.

Galo stroked his head encouragingly. “What’s that? I can’t hear you.”

“Yessir I want your cock, sir!” Lio all but shouted.

A chuckle burbled up out of Galo, and the toothy smile on his face belied what came next:

“All right then. Show me you can take my cock without complaining.” He gripped Lio’s hair tightly. “I don’t give my knot to just any Omega you know, you have to earn it first.”

Lio was about to respond but Galo pushed in before he could. The little muffled yelp it elicited was delicious, and as Galo set a slow, shallow rhythm, Lio got the point and began to suck.

“Hahhh…fuck, you Burnish feel so good.” Every once in a while, Galo would push in all the way, making Lio gulp and gasp. “Such hot little bodies that are so good to _fuck_.”

Lio moaned appreciatively, eyes rolling up behind his closed eyelids. Galo held him still for a second to drink the feeling in, then twisted his hair and forced him to take his shallow strokes again, stretching his mouth in order to do it.

“You like that? Being used by an Alpha? You little Burnish slut?”

“Mmmmmm.”

His tongue tightened around Galo’s cock, giving him the perfect sheath as he thrust in and out, more roughly now. Galo’s hand fisted in Lio’s hair several times, before he gave up with a growling sigh. Giving Lio a moment to breathe, he took both sides of Lio’s head in his hands—and then pressed it hard against the wall. Lio’s back arched; his chin tilted back, but when Galo pushed in again, he didn’t stop taking him, didn’t stop welcoming him in to his tight Omega heat, no matter how deep or rough or _fast_ Galo got.

“Yeaahhh, you like that, don’t you? Being used by an Alpha until he comes all over you. Because you need it. You’re just a desperate little Omega that needs a knot in you.” Lio made a sweet keen, and Galo’s breathing became labored as he pushed in deeper, longer. “ _Fuck_ , you feel so good… _Hahhng_. I…I… _Haaah,_ I need you too...”

He titled his head down, forehead resting against the wall and staring hard at Lio—the view of his own rock-hard abs pulsing and glistening with sweat as his thick cock went in and out of Lio’s pretty face.

“God, you’re so good to me, Lio. Take it, like that. You’re doing so good. Ah…ahn…!”

A familiar heat building at the base of his spine, he pressed his gluts together and went all the way to the hilt. Spit ran down Lio’s chin and he grunted and gulped, but he didn’t complain; in fact, he’d obediently sequestered his own hands behind his back.

Galo went silent but for his own heavy hitches of breath, thrusting fast, short strokes even buried deep in Lio’s spit-soaked throat as he was. Soon, he growled and shifted his stance, one leg almost looped over Lio’s shoulder and knee pressed into the wall by his head in search of just that little bit more skin-to-skin friction.

“Oh, oh fuck, _Lio_ …” Galo pulled himself off with effort at the very last moment, holding Lio’s bangs tightly in one hand and his cock in the other. White shot out—at Lio’s face, at his neck, at his chest, at the wall. It just came and came wetly to the sound of Galo’s haggard moans, until the last few spurts landed over Lio’s legs.

Panting hard, Galo leaned over him, his arms on the wall and his head in his hands. He needed the cool it provided; they’d turned the air in the room hot. “Holy damn…”

Stars sparkled behind his eyes, and for a while he just gasped for breath, letting the orgasm course through him from head to toe with his come-painted Omega trapped between him and the wall, right where he was supposed to be.

Eventually, as Galo started to catch his breath, a soft hand skirted up and down the outside of his calf. Then, an entire body attached to the inside of his leg. When Galo opened his eyes, he found Lio leaning against him, nuzzling into the crook of his thigh. Galo sighed to stroke Lio’s hair and back shakily.

“Ah…haaah…fuck, I don’t know where I went there for a second.”

Lio squeezed him affectionately.

“God, that was good. You okay? You good? Sorry it was so short.”

Galo drew in a long breath and pulled himself upright, while also guiding Lio back by the shoulder. The little Omega settled against the wall again, a hazy smile on his face. “That was fun,” he rasped.

Galo had done a serious number on his throat, he could already tell. “S-sorry…”

“For what?” Lio shook his head, a sated hum on his lips.

“For…” Galo stroked Lio’s head again idly. It was hard to think, especially with Lio sitting there covered in his come, looking wrecked and all the happier for it. “Wrecking you good, I guess?”

Galo chuckled nervously. Lio laughed and fumbled for another wash cloth, wiping off his face and neck carefully. “That’s so like you,” he said fondly as he tossed it aside to join the other. “You’ve got this hot-as-fuck dom mode you go into, but you’re really such a little vanilla bean underneath it all. The moment you’re out of it, you turn red as a tomato. It’s cute.”

Galo scoffed but didn’t have it in him at the moment to argue. He subconsciously squeezed Lio’s shoulders, driven to hold him. Lio, too, gently stroked over Galo’s nearest ankle. His body was loose and relaxed, and he had a dopey smile on his face. His erection was only half going now; apparently he was perfectly happy just the way he was.

It was so very different from all the times Galo had ever seen Lio—angry, betrayed, in pain, sobbing, destructive rampages and furious rants—that he couldn’t help but be struck with some feeling for him that he’d never quite felt before. Pride, hope? He couldn’t tell. But it was a nice one, all warm and full.

Maybe it was love. But it wasn’t like he could say that out loud. Either way though, he didn’t want it to end. Ever.

The thought must have shown on his face as he was gazing down at Lio though, because the leader of the Burnish rebellion smiled dreamily back at him, lost in his sweet blue eyes. They stayed like that for a few moments, until Galo let out a sigh.

He gently cupped Lio’s jaw with a big hand, his gaze turning only more tender. The pad of his thumb came to rest on Lio’s bottom lip, stroking over it gently.

Lio kept thinking he was going to say something, but he just kept up that idle stroke, never letting go of the thing that was on his mind. And that was just so like him, too.

“If you keep looking at me like that,” Lio whispered for him, “I may just fall in love with you.”

A tiny smile quirked up the corners of Galo’s mouth, making his laugh lines appear.

“Then fall all you like, Lio Fotia, because I’ll be right here to catch you.”

Lio’s brows pressed together and he swallowed hard, his eyes suddenly turning watery. Heat rushed into his face, but Galo rolled his wrist and gently brushed it away with the back of his fingers.

“I’m so glad you decided to stay over,” he whispered, running his fingertips over Lio’s jaw, just softly enough to leave a tingling trail in their wake.

“Me too,” Lio whispered back, gaze falling. “You’re really sweet. And this is fun.” His stared distantly first Galo’s body, and then at the white splatter all over his front as he laid against the wall like a ragdoll. “I always wanted to spend my heat with an Alpha like you.”

“Like me?” He tucked a lock of hair behind Lio’s ear.

“Kind,” Lio explained, those cheeks pinking again like a delicate sunset. “Patient, and really attentive to my needs.” His voice dropped to a barely audible whisper, and he stared at the tile between his crossed feet. “The others tried, but. You know them. They got pretty carried away in the moment and sorta forgot I was there.”

Galo let go of Lio’s head, and Lio took the opportunity to put his face in his hands and take a deep breath.

Beyond the darkness, Lio could hear the creak and pop of Galo’s joints as he bent down on one knee in front of him. “C’mere, Lio.” Those big arms wrapped around his boney shoulders, warm and loving, and pulled him in to their shelter.

Lio shook, and a gasp went through his lungs. A keen emerged from him, then a sob, and finally his face began to burn. He didn’t know why; he loved Meis and Gueira and all they’d done for him. It was just. All the _other_ times. The _other_ people: the strangers, the soldiers, the villains, the scientists. He’d buried it at the time, but now, safe and quiet like this, he realized he ached somewhere deep, thinking for all those years that he was going to die without ever having known kindness like this.

“Shhh,” Galo soothed, running his knuckles up and down Lio’s back. “It’s okay.”

Lio’s sobs deepened, but Galo just held him tighter.

“I’m going to make sure this is the best heat you’ve ever had. Even if all I do is hold you while you cry.”

Of course, Lio only cried harder after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I have a Twitter now: @Rainbow_Riot1
> 
> Come gab at me if you too think Galo's crows feet and laugh lines will make him very sexy as he ages <3 <3 <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Believe in the you that believes in the me that believes in you, Simon!"  
> \--Kamina, _Gurren Lagann_

“God dammit,” Lio sniffle-sobbed into his hands, where he sat curled up between Galo’s legs. “I’m so sorry, I can’t believe I’m crying _thrice_ in a day in front of you. What is _wrong_ with me?” He snerked snot into his nose and made a miserable keen. “This is hardly the man I meant to show you that I could be.”

“Shh, don’t be so hard on yourself, it’s okay,” he whispered back, rocking Lio gently. “You go ahead and cry all you need to.”

Lio’s shoulders hitched and he hummed sadly, but he gave into Galo’s ministrations regardless. “Still,” he muttered unhappily. “You do all these nice things for me and then I _cry_ on you. You must think I’m insane.”

“No,” Galo soothed. “I just think you need someone to be nice to you.”

Lio stared at him in silent shock. He valiantly tried to hold fast but his face twisted, and a fresh wave of sobs and shudders and tears flooded down his little frame. He curled against Galo’s chest, the strength leaving his body with the wails erupting out of him.

Galo rubbed his back soothingly. “Let it out, Lio. It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

This only made Lio cry harder for some reason.

Galo leaned back against the corner of the tub and the wall, taking Lio with him. He held him tightly, absently stroking his hand down Lio’s back while he himself gazed at the ceiling, eyes growing distant and unfocused. What mattered was Lio, and all his senses keyed in on that.

He purposefully slowed his breathing, lowered his heart rate. Set aside his instinctive need to jump to the rescue at the scent of an Omega’s distress and instead pushed himself to be patient and steady. He could feel his body relaxing with each breath, and letting off a calming scent as well. Lio’s sobs weren’t just a few tears, though—they were the kind that pulled from somewhere long ago and deeply injured, begging for release.

It wasn’t the sort of thing a person could really _fix_ ; the act of crying itself _was_ the fixing. So all he could really do—and needed to do—was hold him, and whisper grounding reassurances along the way to Lio’s distraught inner self as it flowed outward, finally freed.

“It’s okay, these things happen,” he offered when Lio had grown a little quieter. “Sometimes, things that get pent up for years just come tumbling out all at once, over an hour or a day or a few days, and you never know when it’s gonna be or what’s going to set it off. Fear, anger, sadness, trauma, loss—it all flows out one day when you’re finally alone, or one night when someone’s finally there. Maybe it’s because of built-up stress of an unusual variety breaking you down, or such a stress finally letting up. Maybe it’s because you’ve finally gotten enough space and distance to process from afar in a safe place. Whatever the case may be…to answer your question, I’m just glad I can be here to hold you through it. I’m honored, actually.”

Lio sniffled a querulous noise into Galo’s chest. His fists curled weakly against his skin.

“Yeah,” Galo explained, brushing the backs of his curled fingers over Lio’s body idly. “To be that safe space for you. To have your trust to that extent. That’s such a huge gift to be given, Lio. Thank you.”

“Heh, you’re the only person I know who would thank me for crying on them.” Lio sucked down his tears and uncurled slightly, just enough to wrap his arms around his Alpha’s neck. He still hid his face under his own biceps, but it was a start, Galo thought. He relaxed and settled his hands, clasped together at the base of Lio’s spine. They went almost all the way across his back.

“It seems like you need this more, so don’t worry about it. I’m still naked with you on the bathroom floor so I can’t be too mad, eh? Besides, sex isn’t the only thing I care about. Your service Alpha is happy to provide for all your needs.”

Lio sniffled quietly, his legs stretching out a little. “Yeah,” he offered in a tiny voice. “You’re pretty great at that.”

Galo started to rock again a little, side to side. When Lio continued to relax, Galo began to hum.

It was a slow, almost melancholy tune, like something that might come out of a musicbox. As it went on, Galo’s voice grew braver, more in-tune and on beat, and Lio could almost make out what the song was…but the memory wouldn’t quite surface.

So he simply listened to it, letting himself fall into the waves of feeling, taken away by charm and sensation.

When the song finished, Lio drifted for a while, listening to Galo’s heartbeat. He seemed content to just sit there with him, and Lio had to admit he was smitten by it. Patience really could be a power move sometimes.

“What song was that?” Lio asked after a time.

“‘You Are My Sunshine,’” Galo explained simply. “My mom used to sing it to me.”

Heat rushed into Lio’s cheeks with a vengeance, and a moment later, fat tears were spilling down them again. He wiped at his eyes with a hand, sobbing pathetically once more. This time, though, he couldn’t hate himself for it.

“How could…” Lio couldn’t even choke out the words. “How could you hit me with something that sweet so suddenly?” he complained half-heartedly, voice pitching up. He wanted to see Galo’s face, see what way he really meant those wonderful words, but he was crying too hard to see.

So Lio just sat up with his legs splayed out to either side, weeping into his hands all alone on the tile. “Dammit,” he criticized of himself, endlessly wiping at his eyes between shuddering gasps for breath.

But Galo was right: it was flooding out. The anger, the hate. Maybe of just one specific chain of wounds, but one that had been heavy and suffocating for years. His body shivered, in time with the waves going through his mind. They were not chaotic and disordered, half-formed thoughts streaming every which way, but instead, heavy waves of electrical fire, like an ocean current, pushing ever toward the shore. And that coast, for him, was Galo Thymos.

So the curse that had been placed upon his soul by evil deeds of other men had been broken open by this Alpha’s tender hands, and now the corrupt emotions were flowing through his mind and out his eyes.

Lio heard Galo take a deep breath above him, and then a heavy hand came to rest upon his head.

“It’s okay,” Galo whispered. “You are loved.”

A shocked little gasp bubbled up out of Lio Fotia, and then he cried anew, a fresh wave of tears spreading through him.

“By so many, many people,” Galo continued.

Lio meant to say words, but it just came out as a damaged sob.

“And you’ll always have a place here. I promise.”

Another sob-sniffle-gasp-sob combo shuddered out of the rebel leader, brought low by a single day of kindness heaped upon all the years of pain. Galo’s hand fell to cup his face, and when that accomplished no change, he clasped his shoulder. That, it seemed, proved at least a little grounding. Which was good, because Lio’s shoulders seemed much too thin to hold up the weight of the world at the moment.

The heat of Galo’s burning soul flowed into him through his palm, and Lio finally managed to catch his breath. The tears were still falling with impressive frequency, which he was spending all his movements just to keep up with wiping away. But at least the shakes and gasps had stopped.

“I don’t know what’s come over me, it’s like you’ve cast a spell on me,” Lio muttered into his hands, head still bowed. “You and those magic hands of yours.”

“Well.” Galo’s voice said bashfully from above him. “You cast a spell on me a long time ago, so. I guess I’m just returning the favor.”

Lio still couldn’t see a damn thing, but that made the tender kiss Galo set on his forehead all the sweeter.

As Galo cupped his chin with a single curled finger, Lio smiled. It was beautiful and light, even _if_ tears were streaming over it.

With a hum, the Alpha smoothed over both sides of the little Omega’s face with his worn hands. Lio closed his eyes, lost to the feeling. Galo swooped in and slowly kissed away his tears, one by one, until they were all gone.

“You deserve the world, Lio Fotia,” Galo whispered against his skin with absolute conviction. “And I’m going to give it to you.”

A big hand clasped around a little one, and then brought them both to stand.

“And I’m gonna start right now.”

* * *

“I’m sorry,” Lio murmured again, rubbing his eyes with a sigh. Galo petted his forearm soothingly as he sat on the edge of the tub and turned on the water.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re not any less attractive to me just because you cry when you need to.”

Galo felt out the temp of the water, then popped the shower on. “Honestly, it’s a better choice than all the alternatives.” He pulled the curtain closed, then went for the strap of his armsock. “Shows great maturity on your part—”

“Wait.” Lio’s fingertips touched down gently on his shoulder. It was far steadier than Galo would have expected a moment ago, and yet also far softer than he expected from a leader who was best known for his ability to level cities. Lio had a funny way about him like that, and the soft-spoken-ness of it made a little tingle buzz through his skin and into his mind about what it promised. “May…I?”

“O-oh? You want to?” Galo glanced at Lio’s hand, then looked up innocently. “Y-Yeah, sure. But. Be gentle with it. The skin’s really delicate still,” he finished in a teacherly tone.

Lio nodded. Wiping at his eyes one last time, he took a step forward until he was between Galo’s legs. He waited a breath as their eyes locked, then forcibly broke it to gaze at Galo’s body.

You would not think, from how skinny and short Lio was, that he could produce such a piercing and calculating gaze. But that was exactly what it was: his administrative eye, reading Galo’s curves like a particularly useful reconnaissance map. Plans were forming in his mind, it was easy to tell; but what they would contain for Galo was quite a bit harder to discern. 

The man’s hands came up to hold his hips uncertainly, but otherwise he simply waited under that gaze as the water loudly streamed behind them.

Lio’s smoldering eyes, bright from crying, went half-lidded. They tracked over Galo’s muscles, then followed his roving fingertips. Two fingers, ring and middle, ghosted over the line of Galo’s sturdy collarbone, then finally slipped underneath the black elastic band. The way he twisted his wrist and crooked his fingers just enough to take hold of the fabric left Galo’s mouth watering, and he wasn’t entirely sure why.

Still, Galo managed to move his head aside as Lio lifted the elastic off his lats, and something about the way the Alpha’s eyes closed, so simple and peaceful, with just the hint of a contented smile on his face, made Lio’s heart leap into his throat. It was a beautiful subservience, oh so trusting and kind. It made him feel like controlling him and loving him all at once; what a dreadfully conflicting turn-on.

But that was not the task at hand, so Lio pushed the flush of warmth down with a breath and concentrated on rolling the sleeve down like a ballet stocking, careful not to touch the skin with his nails.

He was vaguely aware of Galo watching him as he worked, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of the pattern that was revealing itself.

The burn spun up his entire arm from wrist to shoulder in several distinct lines, the edges of each fading into a fractal pattern. It was honestly kind of beautiful, if it weren’t for the knowledge of the violence and pain that’d caused it—pain from both giver and receiver.

And that knowledge whispered to him, even now. It reached out to him, while they were connected like this: A feeling, a voice, an emotion, burbling into his mind. Her surprise came to him, then her fear. Galo’s kindness, then shock, then _pain_. The fear and the pain jumbling together from them both, making hers worse, and his mind go blank until _cool_ numbed his body and extinguished the fire. A little wisp of Meis’s familiar flames for some reason, behind his mind’s eye too. He must have been there as well…

Lio opened his eyes, unaware that he’d even closed them. He held the little donut of nylon at his side while his gaze tracked over Galo’s. He frowned, while Galo’s brows knit.

“I know it’s kinda hard to look at—”

Ever tangled up in the flames, his favorite people were.

“It’s beautiful.” Lio cut him off.

“Y—” Galo’s eyes widened. “You think so?”

“Yeah. I’m just sorry you were hurt by one of my people.”

The feelings and sounds flickering through his mind, Lio surveyed the damage thoughtfully, a single fingertip tracing ever so lightly over the unaffected skin. Every once in a while, when the feeling built up enough, Galo’s muscles twitched beneath him. 

“’S not her fault,” Galo murmured eventually. “She was scared, ‘s all.” He looked down at his arm. “Besides. Was inevitable I’d get burned eventually, in this job. Lucky it wasn’t my _face_.”

“The fire marked you.” When he came down to his wrist, Lio took Galo’s hand in his own like a handshake—like she had—and gently turned his arm. Galo clearly remembered it from the way his eyes flashed, but Lio placed his other hand atop them both to steady him.

“Perhaps it knew what was about to transpire, and wanted us to see you.” Their eyes met, and Lio smiled sadly. Galo looked away, and Lio let him have his hand back. “But then you covered it up.”

“Pff. You _would_ say that.” Despite the words, Galo touched at his wrist insecurely. “I’m sorry she died.”

“Me too,” Lio answered quietly.

He remembered her last words. Her last breaths. The touch of her lips, before they turned to ash.

“I never knew why the flame took sometimes, and sometimes it wouldn’t.” He thought it had something to do with whether or not people wanted to continue being Burnish, how much they’d embraced the flames, but he wasn’t sure. It could have been the fickle nature of the flame playing fate; it could have been something as simple as having something in your body left to burn. It could have been none of those things, and not knowing ate him up inside. Especially give that, if he wasn’t bright enough to enbolden another flame to survive, no one could.

“I can’t believe he hurt so many people… Even if he wasn’t directly responsible. I didn’t save her just for her to _die_ —”

“Shh,” Lio soothed, sheltering Galo’s head against his body in a tender embrace. “His sins are not on your head. You deserve better than to be left cleaning up his trail of bodies. Please don’t ever think that’s your job. It’s _his_.”

Galo’s pained blue eyes gazed up at him, the soul that shined through looking small and lost.

“Then what _is_ my job?”

Lio gently smoothed Galo’s bangs back and then drew his chin up with a hand. “Loving.”

Galo frowned, confused.

“It’s the one thing he couldn’t do,” Lio explained. “And it’s one thing you can do better than anyone I know.”

“Lio…” Galo gazed off, shoulders hunching up.

“And it’s the one thing that will heal us.” Lio leaned down and kissed him.

If Galo’s touch in return seemed a little needy, Lio wasn’t about to bring it up.

“Every day she had as a Burnish,” Lio whispered into his hair, “she had because you saved her. That’s something I can only thank you for.”

A telltale hitch of breath pulled out of Galo’s shoulders. Lio smiled gently and ruffled his hair, placed a kiss on his scalp.

“You’re a good man. You believe that, right?”

Galo’s hands came to rest against Lio’s back. “I used to,” he whispered into Lio's abdomen, almost too small to hear.

“Well,” Lio whispered back, “You may not believe in him any longer. Or even in yourself. But would you believe in me?”

“Ah?” Galo asked, looking up at him.

Lio smiled for him. “Would you believe me when I tell you’re a good man?”

Galo’s brow knit deeply. But when he glanced away, his face slowly transformed. “I suppose I have to,” he admitted. “You wouldn’t lie.”

“Not to you,” Lio smirked. “And not about this.”

Galo smiled sadly.

“Galo.” He drew the lightest of touches down his arm. “This scar. To a Burnish, it’s an omen that marks you as ever entwined with us.” When their eyes met, Lio winked. “I would have interrogated you a little differently if I’d known you had that.”

“O-oh…” Galo’s cheeks pinked, and he looked off for a completely different reason than before.

Honestly, Lio didn’t have much experience with burns, let alone healing from them. He just knew “not burned” and “roasted to ash” and “flowing like lava” and that was about it.

What he knew came more from freezer burn. From stinging ice, cooling and numbing him; from prisons cracking him apart and lances stabbing right through him. That he knew.

That, and the screams of the people he’d melted.

Of course he knew the pain of being burned itself. The heat turning up so high your skin, your muscle, your very bones broke and turned to ash. The fat exploding as it was melted off your body. He knew that much, at least.

But this…

He ghosted his fingertips over one of the discolored spots, lightly enough to tingle the hairs, had they still been there. It was a very light burn, all things considered, especially for a first-time flare.

Perhaps she had simply been scared and kind, not wanting to hurt anyone, and so had managed to hold back. Perhaps the fire had chosen that moment to erupt for a reason.

He would never know, but he genuinely believed the fire had a way of bringing people together. Of helping them find what they were looking for, even if their bodies inevitably burned up on the journey in exchange. 

Lio took a moment of silence to mourn those lost to the flames, prayed that she’d found whatever she was looking for, and then set a single finger upon the skin of the man named Galo Thymos.

Because he had found what he'd long been searching for.

Or at least, he hoped so.

It wasn’t fair that he was alive when so many others weren’t, but he was here now. The best way to honor that sacrifice was to live where they could not. To feel what they could not. To bring a love into the world, that they had all wished could be found. 

“Can you feel it?” he whispered at last, setting all five fingertips on Galo’s skin.

Galo shrugged his shoulder a little bit, unconsciously. “Yeah.” He swallowed hard as Lio’s hand left. “The…the burn wasn’t as bad as it could have been, because Aina coated my arm in ice right after it happened.”

Lio hummed, resting his hand on the base of Galo’s neck. To welcome that cold…just another remarkable thing about the man. “How long will you have to wear the sleeve?” he asked idly, setting the rolled-up sock on the sink.

Galo cupped Lio’s hand and leaned into the touch. The burn pattern was even more impressive, watching it ripple as he moved. “Six months to a year.”

“A?” Lio sputtered. “A _year_?!”

“Well yeah!” As Lio drew back, Galo leaned in, getting out his Powerpoint Presentation voice. “You wear a compression sleeve to help the layers of skin heal properly. They have fibers that go between them”—here, he threaded his fingers together in illustration—“and if you don’t keep them connected and aligned properly, like when they slide all around if you don’t wear one, they won’t thread together right and you end up with no feeling, not enough circulation… Basically, this is keeping it from being a keloid scar, which would suck. I’d lose most of the surface feeling in my arm if that happened, and the ability to perspire there, among other things.”

“Wow,” Lio said, blinking. His leader persona had evaporated like the wind. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“Nah!” Galo beamed. “Science is great!”

Lio smiled too, infected. But suddenly, Galo’s grin fell, and he looked over at the sleeve.

“…Kray had that specially made for me by one of the Foundation’s divisions. It’s a special prototype. Supposed to be the best they could make.”

_I only had you placed in Burning Rescue because it was the job with the highest mortality rate in the city!_

Even in the heat of battle as he’d been, Lio remembered that. The way so many tangled, upset emotions pinged through Galo’s side of the drift at it.

Lio was all too familiar with being told by the people closest to you that they wished you would die, and couldn’t quite understand why you wouldn’t give them that kindness, despite their repeated attempts.

Attempts to relieve them of the tremendous, life-destroying burden that was _you_.

Never mind the fact that all you tried to do was love them.

As Lio looked over Galo anew—strong yet innocent Galo, looking up at him so hopefully—he realized something: That this was a gentle soul who had been wounded over and over again very deeply, by the very people who should have been protecting him.

A man who was cheerful and warm, but whose body and soul were going to be used up soon if things kept going the way they were. Far too soon—and _pointlessly_.

Lio vividly realized then that he wanted to protect this person. This good little soul, struggling to bloom in the darkness it’d been left in by everyone who had ever promised to bring it light.

 _I will love you,_ Lio thought. _I will give you that light. I will take you into the Burnish fold and protect you._

It was a stray thought, but one that hit with the clarity of the night sky in winter. Perhaps that was why, instead of saying anything, he found himself cupping Galo’s cheek, stroking his thumb tenderly against the Alpha's cheekbone over and over.

Galo, unsure at first, soon relaxed and leaned in, humming happily.

“Feels nice,” he said eventually.

He was so _trusting_.

How could anyone ever want to hurt this person? Kill them, even?

Galo deserved to be protected for as long as Lio could manage it.

Without a word, Lio Fotia pulled the man into his chest, arms wrapped around his head to shelter him.

Shelter him, like the innocence Lio had lost so long ago.

“Ah?” Galo asked, but Lio didn’t answer him. So he simply leaned there, arms hesitantly coming up to rest at the small of Lio’s back.

“You’re the precious one,” Lio whispered into Galo’s bowed head. It was warm. The sacred warmth of another living thing. It made his body tingle like the excited call of the Promare once had. “Don’t ever forget that, Galo Thymos.”

_You’re worth so much more than me._

“Lio…?”

Galo was looking at him with concern.

_Your flame burns so much brighter than mine._

When Lio couldn’t find words to answer him with, Galo unfolded from his embrace. He stood with an audible breath, coming to tower over him. His shadow cooled the air between them, but Lio stood his ground; he titled his head back and silently matched the intensity in Galo’s blue gaze. 

After a few moments of silence, Galo took Lio’s face in his hands. Big and worn, they encompassed from chin to brow, mouth to scalp. Once the warmth and steadiness filled him, Lio closed his eyes and sighed.

When Lio’s breathing matched his, Galo smoothed down the sides of Lio's neck heavily. His hands spread out over his shoulders and stroked down his biceps, placing kindness where there had only ever been rough grips.

Lio sighed and, eyes still closed, leaned in to give the man a full-bodied hug. He fell into him, easily sheltering in the space between Galo’s shoulders, and turning his cheek to rest on Galo’s pec. It was smooth and surprisingly soft to the touch, and he was lulled by the strong heartbeat and steady breath beneath.

Galo’s hands ran up and down his back, then massaged his scalp for a time, soft whispers of reassurance floating down over him.

Lio smiled and gave Galo a squeeze. Galo giggled, and rested his chin on Lio’s head.

“You’re so cute and little.” The firefighter’s hands slid down to grope Lio’s butt. The way Lio moaned was terribly fun. “Got a nice ass too.”

Lio giggled and hummed, his own hands seeking out Galo’s steely buttocks. They were so toned there were actual ridges and dimples. “Not too bad yourself.”

Galo grinned, eyebrows ticking up and tongue wetting his lower lip. He looked like he wanted to say something, but it didn’t quite materialize.

Lio didn’t mind though—his happy face was enough of a prize.

Galo hummed instead, taking a moment to get his half a hard-on back down with some effort. Lio’s hands wandered in the meantime, swirling into the valley on the sides of his tensed gluts.

For a while, they gazed at each other, not a thought in their heads.

And then that minute dragged on, and each became aware that it had.

“What exactly are we doing here, Lio?” Galo asked, frisky.

“I think we’re communing,” Lio answered softly.

“Oh.” He couldn’t totally mask the disappointment in his tone. “I was thinking ‘vertical cuddling.’”

“Oh my God!” Lio sputtered, pulling away with a laugh. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” He hid his face behind his hands—but they were angled off to the sides so his pained grin was visible. “I love it.”

Galo swooped down and air-dropped a kiss onto those smiling lips. Startled, Lio gasped, and then again when Galo gripped him by the ass and pulled the Omega snug against him.

“I liked your ritual,” he said, pitching his voice deep so that Lio would feel the purr through his chest. He bent down and placed a kiss just below Lio's ear; his lips ghosted over the heat there as he whipered into Lio's skin, “What do you say? Can we do one of mine?”

Lio, arms slung over Galo’s shoulders, gave a little gasp and then smirked back, rubbing as much skin as he could against all the warmth and strength that Galo Thymos had to offer. “I'd like that.”

“Okay!” Galo whooped, taking one last playful smack of Lio’s butt as he straightened up to full height. “Get in the shower and close your eyes.”

“Ah?” Lio wondered, suddenly unsure.

“No prickling now, my dear dragon.” Galo laid a single finger on Lio’s forehead, right along the vein in the center. It forcibly snapped Lio out of his previous emotion, but any complaint was forgotten when Galo’s finger trailed slowly over his nose and down to his lips, where it came to rest. “It’ll be fun,” he purred. “And sexy—like you are. Trust me on this one.”

Lio smiled and kissed his finger. “Okay. Show me what you got, you beautiful soul.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP Thyma. May you live on forever in fandom--and a series, should we ever get one. ;D
> 
> According to the song "Inferno," Lio's looking for "A happy life for me." The simplicity, the innocent hope, and the seeming impossibility, of that line gets me every time.
> 
> Thanks for being here while I teach myself smut and work through all the feels this movie has given me, fandom friends. <3 Squee at me in the comments, maybe? I like talking to you all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's been a tough three months since I last got a chapter out. Politics, health issues, and finance concerns sure can interrupt the creative process! Holler if you feel me...
> 
> Man, this chapter fought me tooth and nail. I hope you like its final version. I kept changing it to add in more steamy shower shenanigans, which proved really difficult when all I wanted to get to was plot!
> 
> Apologies for the little bit of Omega anatomy talk here. It seemed important but don't stress it too much--I sure didn't. [nervous laughter]

“Have you ever done any intimacy exercises before?” Galo asked as he got into the shower behind Lio and pulled the curtain closed. Lio, standing still with his eyes shut and facing the water in the mist, listened to the sound of his feet hitting the plastic. He could feel his heat as he came near; could scent the soft, familiar taste of him in the air, though it was dampened by the moisture.

“Can’t say that I have,” he admitted lightly, wavering a little as he sighed out Galo’s earthy scent, letting it relax him. He wasn’t sure if it was because it was Galo, or if it was because it was an interested Alpha trying to be protective, but he felt calmer from it all, the tension washing away over of his shoulders like he wished the hot water would. “Do you mean the ‘fall back and I’ll catch you’ sort of thing?”

“Kind of. In this case, it’s more like, ‘stare into your partner’s eyes hand-in-hand until your breathing syncs,’ kind of thing.”

“…In a shower?” Lio smirked a little and tried to look back, but Galo stopped him with a palm to the face. Lio snorted, kissed his palm, but then turned back front as Galo kindly directed his head that way.

“Well…that part’s improvised.” The man swooped down and gave him a consolation kiss on his ear once he removed his hand, a little bit of his mane getting caught in the water and plastering itself to Lio’s neck and chest. “You game?”

“For a challenge from a firefighting Alpha?” Lio touched at the blue strands with a wry smile. “Sure.”

“Okay, my dear wildfire.” He could feel Galo’s smirk against his skin. “Stand there and listen to the water. Eyes closed until I say otherwise.”

The little Omega stood obediently, waiting. Galo’s lock of wet hair slipped through his fingers, and Lio let his hand fall. With Galo’s touch and heat gone, he tuned his hearing to the water, letting it flow into him. Let it fill his breath alongside the steam; let his sense of touch tingle with the droplets spraying onto his skin.

It felt like the heat he’d lost, and he was starting to fall into that memory when a hand suddenly brushed against his.

His eyes almost opened, but he forced them to stay shut. Perhaps Galo noticed him tense, because the brush of fingertips against the heel of his palm disappeared.

“All right. Just listen to the sound of my voice. Keep your eyes closed, and relax. Breathe deeply in, out—in, out—there you go. Like that. In… out…” The commands became softer, slower. “You’re doing good.” Lio could hear the soft smile in his voice. “Get lost in the static of the water. Now—the goal is to relax, and feel more present in your body. Aware of your surroundings but safe in them. In your body.”

Lio blanched at that last bit. Galo noted it with a hum, but didn’t mention it. His hand came to hover over the back of Lio’s neck. He could sense it—the little hairs standing on end.

“I’m going to touch you now, okay? My goal is to illustrate to you my intent toward you through touch. Try to listen to what my touch says.”

The tinny white noise of the water hitting the bathtub poured over Lio, filling him. He waited, and waited, and then the tender brush of a hand came again.

It tingled up his arm, so soft it almost hurt. But when he resolved to hold himself still and listen, the touch unfolded: fingertips skirting along his skin, up the grooves between his knuckles, along the tiny hairs on his forearm, and then down the underside of his arm until a palm stretched out over his own to capture his hand. It was as warm as it was electric; there was a jolt of something uncomfortable, maybe fear, as their palms connected, but then it melted away as Galo’s fingers threaded between his own and gave him something else to focus on.

They were longer and thicker, spacing out his own. It felt weird but also kind of nice, inspiring something warm to generate within him wherever they touched. Rather than something dominating and aggressive, forcing a space for itself, Galo’s touch was calm and tender, slipping in the space between his own body’s contours and seeking…seeking…

What was this?

Lio’s eyes pressed shut as he thought about it. Anxiety pinged around his body, shoulder to shoulder and down his stomach until his toes, until it finally shot right back up his body and then sighed out his mouth.

But when he focused on Galo’s fingers, there was no such energy in them. They simply _were_ , calm and restful against his skin.

This was, this was…?

A second hand came down on his shoulder. It was just light, two fingers at first, swirling a spiral into his skin. Then Galo’s palm, so big and warm, covered his entire shoulder and smoothed up to his neck, sucking up the heat there and reflecting it back at him.

Lio leaned into it, humming happily.

“There you go,” Galo husked. “Good.”

He squeezed Lio’s hand and then, slow and intent, dragged his palm up the slender arm. He smoothed heavily over Lio’s shoulder, then loosely cupped Lio’s throat in his left and pressed his right into his shoulderblade.

He pulled Lio back, laying a kiss on the nape of his neck. A breath shuddered out of the little Omega, but what caught his attention were the lips themselves. The sound of the water, coursing through him like a physical force, slipped away for the message in Galo’s touch: _the request_ , that was his touch.

It wasn’t a demand, or a command—it wasn’t a _crime_. It was simply a _request_.

It was proof that he could hold him up when he was weak, hold him tight when he was frightened, and be one with him in rest.

It was… _patience_ , he realized. That feeling Galo was trying to communicate more than anything else, was simply _patience_.

He had _patience_ for Lio. And who had ever had that out in the desert? In the cells? In the labs?

In his childhood home?

Not even himself, that’s who.

But it was one more other thing, Lio realized as Galo’s touch slid down his body and caught both of his hands. Their hands intertwined, and then Galo guided Lio’s to rest on his own thin chest and abs. With a happy hum Galo pulled him in snug against his front, chin resting on the top of his head and swaying gently.

He didn’t say anything. He just held Lio there tightly as the hot water poured down, just out of reach.

And this, too, wasn’t painful, or damaging. It wasn’t rough or predatory. It was…it was…

 _Protective_.

A hug, like being wrapped up in a blanket. To be held in an Alpha’s arms, surrounded by his scent, unable to run away and not be afraid of that…

It felt very right, somehow. And yet so very alien at the same time.

Lio’s eyes blinked open in a flurry of motion. He did nothing but stare at the drain, but he could feel something in him unwinding. Something dark and polluted in him get mixed into the white noise of the water and then disappear along with it, far away from his reach.

The currents of anxiety and contentment mixed together, creating something new. Something _whole_. And for a while, all Lio could do was observe it as it happened.

He’d never been held like this before.

Sure, _he’d_ held people, sort of, and Gueira and Meis tended to pretzel around him after sex, but that was _after_ it. No one had ever just _held_ him like this, apropos of nothing, or as an approach to intimacy. He’d come close, curling up against people on couches, but even that wasn’t the same.

This was…kind of nice. The warmth of a steady body that just wanted him to be safe and content, soaking into him, releasing all the nervous energy to a place far out of reach of even his imagination…

As he let the stillness settle into him, and the protective embrace envelop his wounds in the softest warmth, the Alpha set several more gentle kisses onto his neck, an idle but loving distraction.

He could _smell_ how much Galo wanted him. It was an intoxicating scent, warm and dense and musky, that was making it a little hard to think. Lio was getting rather warm down south, and he had an intense urge to get on his knees and whimper at the man so that he’d know he was ready to be rescued from his plight.

“Galo, I—”

Galo nuzzled in, licking the side of Lio’s neck and then nipping it. “ _Mmm?_ ”

“ _Ohhh_ ,” Lio groaned, previous thought forgotten. _“Yes please.”_

“ _Hmm-hm_.” Galo growled playfully and bit Lio’s lat more forcefully. Lio moaned and tilted his head to the side; his legs went weak, but Galo’s massive arm held him tight like iron. Lio gasped and giggled as the Alpha chased his weaknesses, laying kisses and nips up his neck and onto his jaw and ear.

When Galo had his fill of that, he rested his cheek on Lio’s hair and started rocking them back and forth slightly where they stood.

“My dear spitfire,” he rumbled into the shell of Lio’s ear, with a voice that reverberated into Lio’s back as well, “How would you like to move to part two?”

“ _Mmnhg?_ ” Lio asked, eyes fluttering open.

Galo held him close while he reached beyond them. Curious, Lio waited, staring at the water with hazy eyes as his weight shifted around, until a little fluffy orange thing appeared between them, held in Galo’s palm.

It was a luffa.

“Explore me,” Galo purred. “And I’ll do the same to you.”

Lio took the orange puff and, still in a daze, obediently turned around to face Galo.

Unfortunately, what he saw did not help the haze.

What stood before him might as well have been a god. Or at the very least, a statue of one. The soft light of the bathroom’s overhead fixture came through the curtain in gray hues, giving the light and shadow hugging Galo’s contours a certain etched quality.

And did they ever have contours to hug. (Lio kind of wanted to hug them too.)

Everything about Galo looked like a fitness model, and suddenly each part of him seemed new and intriguing: the thickness of his neck, the cut of his jaw. The way the curve of his lats swept down into his biceps; the soft dusky pink of his nipples, stretched hard to the sides of puffed pecs that made an impressive shelf. The thin waist that created a beautiful V up to his shoulders that must have been some kind of golden proportion that tingled Lio’s primordial brain for what it was doing to make his instincts shout _jump the man’s bones_. The little trail of hair down his front that went from bellybutton downwards, that Lio so dearly wanted to trace his fingers up and his tongue down. The absolutely ripped abs that made a matrix down his front. His lithe runner’s legs. The way the whole of him looked with a hip cocked to the side, graceful as a Greek Marble.

And the jewels hanging down, half excited to see him even now.

Lio felt his own cock twitch and closed his eyes. He wavered on his feet, suddenly feeling light headed.

Still, he couldn’t quite get his mouth to close. He was salivating too copiously.

“You all right?” Galo asked gently in concern, sniffing the air.

“Yes. No. I mean—” Lio sighed. “God _damn_ , Galo.”

“What?” he asked, tilting his head innocently.

“You’re so—you’re so…?” Lio reached out a hesitant hand, which, in fits and starts, came ever closer to the nipple he vividly wanted to suck, but he snatched it back politely at the last moment with a blush. “I have seen the glory of the gods and been struck down by their splendor.”

"Oh." Galo smiled bashfully. It was a beautiful smile, especially with his laugh lines and pearly teeth. When he looked back up, there was a soft, loving twinkle in his eyes that caught Lio totally by surprise. He’d never had that look directed at himself before—he’d only seen it in movies—but it was as steady as it was sincere. It was both inviting and intent, like red-hot coals promising to burn if just given something to touch, and being faced with such a gaze in person made his heart leap with all the love it promised, even as it made the rest of him melt like an icicle on a sunny day.

It was good Galo chose to reach out to him then, otherwise he might have honestly fallen down. As it was, the poor luffa was lost to the bathtub’s bottom. It rolled away down by the drain. Galo noticed the sacrilege, but only smiled a little about it.

“It’s all right,” he whispered, taking Lio’s eager hand and guiding it back to his pec. He held it there, warm and steady, his heartbeat strong under his palm. “You have good instincts, Lio. Lean into them a little.”

He guided his little warrior-prince to step back into the water, and then looked over Lio’s naked form as it glistened. It was thin and boney but youthful and unmarred, and it made his mouth water.

Not to mention the half erection Lio had going. Galo smirked, though he tried to be polite and hide it in the moment that Lio swept his hair out of his eyes.

“What?” Lio asked after a bit, as he stood there in the waterfall, smiling too.

Galo couldn’t take his eyes off his lover’s body. “Nothing,” he breathed, smitten. How could he be this lucky? “You’re just a certain kind of glorious too, is all. The wholly natural kind. I had to work to get like this, but you’re like that every day, aren’t you.”

Lio bit his lip, his eyes lingering on a particular spot of Galo’s rather impressive anatomy. “You make me want to get on my knees and beg,” he admitted softly, with just a hint of a teasing tone at the end.

Galo chuckled spontaneously. “Hoo, boy.” With a breath, he put a hand on his hip and gazed at the ceiling. “Wasn’t expecting that one so suddenly.”

“But it’s true,” Lio replied lightly, closing the step between them. With a touch as tender as his voice, he slid his hand between Galo’s legs, and palmed the heavy sac he found there.

He pulled in against Galo’s body, resting his chin on his chest. Galo hissed and his face scrunched up; his hands came up to grip Lio’s elbows.

“You make me,” Lio went on breathily, free hand sliding down to lovingly caress Galo’s butt, “want to get on my knees and beg for your knot.” He set a kiss on the man’s collar bone, one that idly sucked on skin and left hickies in its wake just for something to taste, something to occupy his tongue—and something to _mark_ him with. “To present myself to you until you decide to give me your seed.”

“ _Oorf_ ,” Galo groaned, a half-lucid noise. He rubbed his neck against Lio’s, bathing him in scent even though it was just getting washed away. “You have certainly come to the right Alpha for that.” He grinned and cupped both hands on Lio’s ass. “You’re pushing all my buttons so good,” he growled into Lio’s hair as he lifted him slightly upward.

Flush against his front, the warmth in Lio’s body from the hot water caused Galo to break into a sweat. The Omega made a show of licking the salt off Galo’s skin and then slowly raised up on the balls of his feet, until his mouth was level with Galo’s ear.

“ _Fill me with your pups and kits_ ,” he whispered, drinking in the shudder of goosebumps that went visibly through Galo’s body afterwards. “ _Breed me against the tile like a plaything.”_

Galo gulped and gripped him tighter. Lio could feel the man’s heavy erection, suddenly hard as iron, straining to rise against his thigh.

 _“Fill me, Galo.”_ Lio twined his arms around the back of the man’s unreasonably sturdy head and neck and then, in a purely sinful act, pulled out his British accent for one final finishing blow: _“ Fuck me with your big. Powerful. Alpha. Cock.”_

“ _Hrrrng_.” Galo gripped Lio by both hips almost instantaneously, and for the first time, the grip was rough and erratic. He whirled him around and then pushed him forward, until Lio was bracing himself against the tile with his hands, tucked perfectly in between the showerhead and the knobs. “Stay there.”

A shiver of anticipation that was half thrill and half pleasure zipped down Lio’s back, through his crotch, and into his toes. He _wanted_ to be commanded by an Alpha. Particularly _this_ Alpha, and finally getting it made something instinctive breathe to life within him. It was getting hard to think all of a sudden, so he didn’t bother—he merely keened, coming in closer to the wall so he could grind his forehead against it.

“ _Please_ ,” he found himself moaning. “ _Please?_ ”

“Shhh, pet, I’ve got you,” Galo assured, running one hand down Lio’s back reassuringly. “I just need to turn down the water for my arm.” Indeed, as he spoke, the water temperature lessened, and Lio keened again, for the frigid rush it delivered. It wasn’t objectively cold, but given what Lio had been basking in before, it might as well have been ice water. “Shhh,” Galo’s voice came again, as he titled the shower head to spray toward the back of the tub and leave them be. “I’ll keep you warm my little matchstick flame, don’t worry.”

Before Lio could protest, a hand moved over his shoulder and up to his throat, gripping his jaw from underneath. Galo’s palm tilted Lio’s head back until it couldn’t go any farther, and then two fingers were slipping into his mouth, almost too thick to fit.

“ _Mmmnf…nnng? Hnnnnn... <3_”

Lio stilled, bracing his legs, and let his vision blur as Galo’s fingertips massaged onto his ever-slicker tongue. It was a sweet, succulent surrender as spit began to drool out his mouth, one that was making heat pool in his cock and the need that was already in his ass tingle with aching sensitivity. As he began to suck on Galo’s fingers, hard enough to get milk from an udder, the Alpha towering over him and trapping him where he stood chuckled. Lio could hear him speak distantly, through the sound of the water hailing down behind them.

“You’re a needy little thing, aren’tcha?” Galo asked fondly, setting a kiss on Lio’s shoulderblade. “You weren’t kidding about liking to suck cock, were you. I can make use of _that_.”

His voice was deepening with lust, but it seemed he was back to moving slowly again. It was excruciating, and Lio half wanted to bite him.

So he nipped him just a little, and Galo pulled back his fingers with a startled hiss. Just as quickly, he smacked Lio on the ass.

“Ah, boy,” he narrated to himself, shaking out his hand—and not ignoring the little _Eep!_ noise Lio made as much as it might have seemed on the surface. “I might just have to punish you if you keep acting like that, you feral little Omega, you.” He smirked and pulled back Lio’s head by the hair. “It’s one thing to need a dick, it’s quite another to nip your Alpha.”

His hand came down firmly on Lio’s ass, a resounding _smack_. Lio yelped and rocked up on his toes, which only made Galo do it again, this time leaving his hand on the rounded rump and rubbing it indecently.

“Mm, yes, I can make _very_ good use of your talents, I think.”

Lio panted against the wall. He gazed back at Galo with one helpless, lust-clouded eye briefly, until he simply gave up and keened, brows knit together.

“You like that?” Galo asked sweetly, checking in.

Lio made a wheedling noise in his throat, that came across his lips as a hybrid of a growl and a keen. “Too much.”

“Good,” Galo agreed, leaning down and taking a heady breath of Lio’s scent. “Because I like doing it to you.”

He licked a line up Lio's spine and then molded around him, pressing into him until he collapsed down onto his forearms. His erection slid easily between Lio’s butt cheeks, finally finding sweet friction there for the hot, throbbing sting that had been pulsing through him since Lio had bared his ass to him.

And it felt so _big_. Lio could have cried in relief.

As it was, he let out a long, deep moan and arched his hips up, thoughts melting away and body achingly ready.

But Galo didn’t take the bait.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think I can give you what you need in here—you’re too little,” Galo murmured. “Too short, I mean. And the water washes away the lube. I don’t think either of us would get off very well. Buuuut,” he purred, nibbling at Lio’s lats tenderly, “I _can_ give you the next best thing.”

Galo massaged down Lio’s body with a worn palm, until he came to his entrance. He ghosted his fingertips against the ring of muscle, tickling open the puffy skin.

That was part of the difference between male Omegas and everybody else—their heats were part of a cycle that caused their anal tissues to behave more like a vagina’s. They were soft and pulsating and hot, and self-lubricating too. And it felt really, _really_ good.

“You’re so wet,” Galo quipped.

He thought he was going to get a snippy retort back at the dumb joke, but instead, Lio simply hung his head and quivered.

“ _For you,”_ he whispered. And then, after a gulp and a pant: “ _For your kits._ ”

It was so softly spoken that Galo could barely hear it over the sound of the water. But he worked it out after a moment: “Ohh?” he teased. “You want to get good and pregnant with lots of little Omega kits, huh?”

“Yes,” Lio hissed after a pause. “Make me finally worth something, Galo.”

The tissues had expanded as much as they were going to, so despite the heaviness of Lio’s admission, he was good and ready. Galo hummed, filing it away for later, and instead chose that moment to push in. He sent his first finger in up the second knuckle, then, as Lio yelped, pushed in to the third.

He made a soothing noise and waited to see what the rest of the reaction was. But Lio only wheedled in a mix of happiness and pain, which ended up sounding more positive than not. When the muscle relaxed around him, Galo pulled most of the way out, and started working the second finger in.

The tissue gave way readily to admit him into its blinding warmth. “Oh fuck,” Galo mumbled. “I can really tell you were a Burnish.”

Lio breathed a long sigh that ended in a sob. “Oh Galo,” he managed, high pitched and broken. “—sogood.”

“Good,” Galo parroted, a little distracted, though he genuinely meant it. “I want you to enjoy yourself.” He worked his wrist, setting a steady rhythm of pulsating penetration. At the same time, Lio was shifting his weight so he could press back against him, his words falling away for pants of concentration—what was certain to be a rather psychedelic kind of focus, given that he was deep in heat with an Alpha he’d chosen working him over.

As Galo took a moment to savor that fact, he encouraged his partner not to bite back his moans, but embrace them: “I won’t tell anyone. Let go. What happens here stays here.”

Lio, apparently a good, obedient little Omega once he had something inside him, did as told: his voice got louder, freer, looser. The pitch of his moans and little half-mewls wavered all over the place, even as he found a rhythm with his hips. But the tightness that wound around his slender body was working its way out, slowly but surely.

“There you go. You’re doing good. Fuck me properly, you little Omega slut. Get pregnant on a thick Alpha dick like you were always meant to.”

“Ah!” Body temperature rising from the steam and exertion to the point that he felt faint, Lio keened and pressed himself flush into the tile, desperate for more force, friction, compression. His arms spread out to either side of his shoulders, hands curled into fists. Cheek pressed into the blissfully cool porcelain, he tried to look back at Galo, but he couldn’t see anything but blur. In response, the man pinned him into the wall properly with a heavy hand. Lio was forced to tip his head back and lay his throat and chin on the wall, eyes gazing distantly at the shades of white on the ceiling.

Lio worked himself as quickly as he could on Galo’s thick fingers due to the awkward angle and lack of leverage and air, panting little desperate whimpers that were sweet and succulent to Galo’s ears. “That’s it,” Galo encouraged softly, intently licking his lips to taste the air. “Let your mind go. Take what you need from my body.”

The hand on his shoulder switched to grip a fistful of Lio’s hair—and _twisted_. Lio gasped; but something else happened too: His mind and vision went fuzzy. Galo’s voice, and even his own, grew distant. The underside of his chin quickly went numb, overtaken by the swell of heat burning up through him now that the tile had been infused with his warmth. He couldn’t make noise like this; he could barely grunt, with his chest compressed and throat pulled taught.

His arms were trapped up against the wall too, and while he could technically move them, their range of motion was incredibly limited without being able to lift his chest off the wall at least a little. Galo’s arm, dug into his back with all his massive weight, was pinning his upper half still as well, so there was little point in having them anywhere other than where they were—curled up like little chicken wings next to his shoulders, pressing weakly back against Galo’s force to keep himself breathing. It felt odd to hold himself there voluntarily, but after a few moments, his brain decided he was _trapped_ and stopped trying to find ways to escape.

And that was like a magic spell: His anxieties and fears melted away, and he was slowly but steadily overcome with _heat_. It spread over him, replacing all his other senses as it went, starting in his stomach and moving through him, making his nerves come alive with the delicious desire to be pressed _into_ and _against_.

So he started to rut against the wall, not caring that the tile was hard and cold on his cock and just as likely to bruise him all over. It felt _good_ ; so, _so_ good, and if the Alpha nearby would just—

Galo was suddenly right up against him—licking his neck, breathing in his ear, pulling his head back, digging into his spine—and filling him with thick fingers that rocked steadily and mercilessly in and out of him. His thumb rested on Lio’s coccyx too, pressing between his buttocks in just the right way to simulate another cock and making Lio’s hips rock even more frantically.

A desperately hot need was filling Lio to the brim from every angle. At the same time, his cares, his concerns, his very being melted away, elevated to some other plain by the heavy electric waves striking him from on high. The tendrils of soul-clearing force trickled down through his mind and into his body like searching arms of lightning. Each spasm was slightly deeper, stronger, more encompassing than the last, delivered in flashes of light before his eyes that took away slightly more of his consciousness each time. Even the sound of the water had disappeared, replaced with pleasure and heat and ache.

He vaguely understood that Galo was saying something, telling him to come. That it was okay to come—so long as he didn’t touch himself.

And that was a hard command to obey—he needed just a tiny bit more to push him over, but he was no longer coordinated enough to use his arms even if he wanted to. But through his ragged gasps and breathless thrusts, Galo twisted his hand, hitting close to Lio’s sweet spot. On top of making his eyes water from tightly twisted follicles and his top half going numb from the taught angles and cold tile, the scent and weight of an Alpha all around him, wholly concentrated on breeding him, was exquisite. Even Galo’s soft grunts of concentration were driving him wild.

Lio was so full of the desire to be _taken_ that he couldn’t hold in the overflowing need and finally let it wash over him. He became one with the fire within him once more, one with the light and the smell and the sounds as they all pooled together into a single all-encompassing pleasure-pain flare of heat. He cried out against the sweating tile as he came, a broken sound rushing forth from somewhere deep and hurt inside him.

The orgasm lasted a long time, coursing through him in almost violent waves that took his breath and sight and even sound away. They pulsed through his body mercilessly, each one curling his toes and fingers and stealing his breath away. They reached a peak of pleasure and then, one by one, as their force lessened, they slowly became more painful as he turned oversensitive. He was terribly messy by the end of it, as was the tile, and his legs were shaking too.

Lio wasn’t sure how long it took him to come down and pull back from the wall, but he almost didn’t want to go. There were still stars prickling in front of in his eyes on a field of flashing darkness, and he felt like if he could just become one with the wall forever, he might never have a complaint again.

Eventually, though, reality stabilized somewhat, and he became aware that Galo was no longer in him. After a brief whimper of sadness, his legs wobbled, and he stumbled to right himself. An arm caught him around the shoulder, and soon Lio was breathing raggedly into a wet Alpha’s arms.

“I need…need to sit down…?”

Lio’s instincts picked up that presence and its scent as _Galo, my Alpha, safety,_ and so he let himself be taken in and directed, not that he would have had much choice no matter who it was, given how weak and wobbly he was feeling.

Still, Galo kissed his hair briefly and drew them to the bottom of the tub. Lio was a boneless mess, so Galo did the work of tucking Lio in against him, back-to-front. He held him like a treasured doll, rocking slightly and occasionally kissing him. Lio, for his part, just lay there, dazed and sated and warm.

This was what being bred felt like. This was what being _wanted_ by an Alpha felt like. And it was so, so good. It felt like every crack in his soul had been filled, and he was left with a happy, hazy, buzzing fullness.

Eventually, Galo nosed into Lio’s wet hair and murmured, “You did wonderfully.”

The praise—from a protective, kindly Alpha he was almost bonded to—struck straight to his vulnerable places. It was at once the kindest and cruelest fate he could imagine as he lay there, chest heaving and unable to defend himself from any kind of attack at all, emotional or otherwise.

“What…what _was_ that?” he managed to pant instead, after a few tries. His fingers gripped into Galo’s skin weakly where they lay.

“A full-body orgasm, driven by the mind’s emotional response, not a local orgasm caused by the body’s mechanical feedback.”

“My _god_ ,” Lio sighed, half raising a shaky hand, only to let it fall noisily back to its previous resting position before he could do anything with it. “I can’t stand?!”

“Heh. That’s okay, isn’t it?” Galo smirked shyly into his scalp and squeezed him briefly. “I told you I’d be right here to catch you if you fell, didn’t I?”

“So you did.” Lio chuckled breathlessly. “And so you have.” Another pant. “And so _I_ have.”

“That’s my li’l ‘Mega.” Galo kissed his hair.

“You’re sweet.” Lio tucked Galo’s arms against him. He kissed Galo’s hand, then leaned back against him, eyes closing. “So tired!”

“That’s okay. Just enjoy it. I don’t mind.”

True to his word, Galo held him for quite some time.

And so, like this, they cuddled under a steaming rain, the wild dragon once again finding a safe place to burn within his firefighter’s tempering arms.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I said the A/B/O is "not a weird bestial thing" BUT I still like the idea that people can purr. 
> 
> And okay maybe also the term "kitten" for Lio has taken hold of me after reading @gattan_cae 's impressive Kinktober stash...
> 
> I wrote this instead of working. Sat down after errands at 5:30pm and bam it's 10:30pm and oops I finished the whole chapter and edited it, bad Quill. :')
> 
> Songs for writing: "Adore You" (Harry Styles); "Levitating" (Dua Lipa); "Rain on Me" (Lady Gaga & Arianna Grande)
> 
> Thanks for being here, and enjoy!

Lio leaned back against Galo’s chest, enfolded in his arms, for a long, mindless while, just listening to his breathing and watching the water sparkle and weave. It was easy to get lost in Galo—he was so big, so warm, so steady. He was like a wonderful drug.

For his part, Galo seemed equally content to just hold him, which Lio thought splendid. Out in the desert, there was always the threat of someone’s hold tightening and shifting at a moment’s notice, often painfully, due to sudden danger, be it distant or near.

But there was no expectation of danger here. No reason to ever think anyone would barge into this place.

It was wonderful. It smoothed out all the wrinkles in his mind that he normally had when he curled up with someone out on the bare dirt. The invisible wall he always held in his heart between him and everyone else suddenly no longer had a reason to exist, and was crumbling as painlessly as darkness into the dawn.

He could get used to this, he thought, as Galo’s contented purr rumbled into his back, and the massive arms full of Protective Alpha Scent snuggled him close.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Galo whispered into his skin. “Here, lean forward a little.” A large palm spread across his back, gently coaxing him forward, and soon, the long forgotten but dutiful luffa was scrubbing down his back. Lio sighed, getting lost in the feeling. He was tired.

Galo lovingly soaped up all his limbs, and eventually did his front too. Lio let himself be moved to and fro like a ragdoll, lost in the heavy, comforting warmth of a man’s big hands kneading into his muscles, until fingertips skirted over his stomach. He giggled, then quickly hissed as that hand lightly gripped his cock. “ _Ah!_ It’s still sensitive…”

Galo, touch barely there, swirled his middle fingertip around Lio’s slit idly, both his hand and Lio’s skin covered in bubbles. “Not ready yet, hm?”

“it’s only been like fifteen minutes,” Lio protested. “And I’m exhausted. Honestly, I feel so nice after that last one, I really don’t need to.”

“Mmm,” Galo noted, sliding that damnably attentive fingertip up and down the side of Lio’s cock _just_ _so._ “Rain check, I guess.”

Lio wheedled, his cheeks pinking. He hung his head and Galo, still quite hard behind him, kissed the nape of his neck.

“Guess I’ll just have to give you that knot after all.”

It was well known that when an Omega in heat was around, Alphas’ refractory periods became much shorter. Likewise, Omegas’ became shorter the more they were knotted, until they were over the halfway point of their heats. After all, consistent knotting was what caused ovulation, and ovulation was what caused the heats to peak. Luckily, Lio didn’t have to worry about that, but the hormonal response was all the same, so…

“I…I could always try for you, Galo.”

“Yeah?” Galo nosed into his hair. “Just for me?”

“ _Mmmmm_.” Lio tilted his head back and let Galo rub scent all over his neck. And it felt so _good_. It made Lio all warm and want to rub up against things with nary a thought in his head.

Things like Galo’s godlike eight-pack.

“Just for you.”

“How kind of you, Your Burnish Highness.” Galo turned Lio’s head gently. He captured his lips in a sloppy kiss just as his hand closed around Lio’s cock.

He worked Lio slowly, unwinding him, playing him like a harp. Each touch was more electric than the last, and Lio was decidedly singing a little song of hitched breaths and moans before long. Galo’s touch was slick with soap, while Lio was coated in bubbles and drops of dew. His legs were open like a book with Galo’s legs as his cradle, golden-blond sparks of illuminated text glinting off his legs the way sapphire ones were written over Galo’s.

By the time he was nearing the edge, his hands were tangling in Galo’s hair and he was laid back over Galo’s body, back arched. He planted his heels on the rough texture of the tub’s sticky gripper strips, determined to get enough leverage to make his hips work. He rocked frantically up into Galo’s slick palm, voice broken and high pitched like a twittering bird. He was wantonly laid bare, his whole being flushed with lust, and he wanted Galo to see every moment of it.

Lio came hard again, though in a different way than the last time. His body was still thrumming underneath with the calm of the last one, so this one was a surface wave that sat atop that undersea current, combining into a rip tide that took away his ability to care about anything at all. He ended up staring at the curtain, mind melding with the whiskered dragon and its many swirling plumes.

Galo, for his part, just held his little Omega tightly, arms crossed around his front. He kissed Lio’s neck tenderly from time to time, his lips never really leaving Lio’s skin.

In time, Lio became hazily aware that he had ejaculated in an impressive arc onto the sides of tub, and it was going to need to be cleaned up by someone.

Someone like _him_ , his mind whispered, as an Alpha stood over him watching him do it on his knees all naked and wet, and promising a reward if he did good. Lio shivered a little at the thought, fingers curling into Galo’s knees.

“I’m starting to think,” Lio rasped hazily once he came back from that dreamland, “that this was your dastardly plan all along.”

“Maybe,” Galo cracked a grin against his skin.

“Get the firebreathing dragon into the water, where he’s weak,” Lio went on in between heavy breaths that visibly rattled through his chest. “You clever firefighter, you.”

Galo snuffled into his neck and squeezed him.

“I’m gonna fall asleep in here,” Lio admitted. “I might dissolve.”

Galo mumbled an assent, and reluctantly pushed him to sit up properly. Lio managed it a bit like a splooting dog, with his legs splayed, hands between them, and posture that looked more like a building about to collapse than anything. But this seemed to be all right with Galo, because he hummed idly as he walked his fingertips up Lio’s protruding spine and into his hair. It was a happy sound.

Lio closed his eyes and got lost in the lull. He just felt so warm and comfortable, both within and without. If he had to describe it, he’d say he was one with the room.

Galo’s touch momentarily left him, only to return with shampoo. He slicked the top of Lio’s damp hair with it, then massaged it in with thick fingertips scrubbing against his scalp. The lather grew and grew, until Galo was simply massaging Lio’s head with the slick sound of bubbles crinkling and popping.

This did not help Lio stay awake and alert by any means, and so by the time Galo bent Lio forward a little bit more into the water’s stream—the old shed finally falling over—Lio startled.

Lio’s hands struck out to the sides of the tub, and for a second he thought he couldn’t breathe, but Galo was right there holding him, soothing him: “Don’t worry, I got you.”

It wasn’t cold water. It wasn’t _buckets of_ _icewater_ and _a hand on the back of his neck pinning him down_ —

It took a few breaths, but Lio got the image out of his eyes, got his arms to slacken and his hands fall into his lap. Got Galo’s hands rinsing out his hair in long, attentive strokes to be the only thing he let himself feel.

“This is nice,” Lio murmured, a ward to chase the demons away.

“I’m glad,” Galo responded. He sounded happy, but in a quieter way than normal. “Want to do me?”

Abruptly, Lio sat up somewhat and tilted his head back. Water poured down his face, and he had to breathe through his mouth, which was hung open dumbly. He sat like that for a second, mind blank, while Galo gave him a few final strokes down the back of his head and neck.

_“Do me”?_

When the touch disappeared, Lio turned to follow it. Galo was laying back in the bottom of the tub like he was on a sun lounger, arm on the ledge and head titled to the side. His tented legs were likewise resting on each side of the bathtub, and his glistening body was wearing nothing at all but a smile.

But that was not the worst of what did Lio Fotia in at that moment.

No, what destroyed all reason was Galo’s _hair_.

The blue mane was wet and untamed. It slid down one side of his face in a graceful curve that went all the way down to his shoulder. It framed his face just _so_ and somehow made it seem even more masculine.

Lio gaped silently, then swallowed hard.

Galo, for his part, simply smiled that humble smile that made his crow’s feet show up, and stared at his lap.

“I don’t know what to say when you look at me like that,” he admitted. “But I like it.” He flicked his gaze at Lio momentarily, then looked away just as quickly. “Hope that’s okay?”

“Yes,” Lio rushed in a hiss. He turned all the way around where he sat, and came forward on one knee. “I don’t know what you just asked me, but the answer is ‘Yes. I’ll do it.’”

Lio crawled up Galo’s body like a cat, and the Alpha’s mouth dipped open just a bit as he did so. Galo’s gaze was locked on Lio now, the hint of a smirk pulling at one side of his lips.

It wasn’t the type of look that needed anything to be said to it. So Galo’s hand turned to offer up the luffa, and Lio took it. He poured more of the blue bath liquid onto it, and then, getting as far up the fjord of Galo’s legs as he could, placed one firm hand on the man to hold him still.

Lio went to work soaping up Galo’s chest first: following the line of his pronounced collarbone over to his meaty shoulder. Doing circles around his pecs while marveling at how much _give_ there was when they were relaxed like this. Following Galo’s movements as he lifted an arm so Lio could go beneath it, then letting Lio hold his hand as he kneaded into the joints of his arm with bubbles. When Lio got to his fingers, Galo suddenly, but gently, flipped his hand around to grip Lio’s, and, keeping eye contact with him the whole time, brought Lio’s hand up to his lips to kiss.

Lio blushed furiously. Galo’s lips were incredibly soft and yet so very _intentional_ on his fingers. And the look in his eye…

There was an intensity there that made Lio know _exactly_ what he was thinking. And Lio’s only response was a breathless, heart-leaping, _Yes please_.

Determined to keep his composure, Lio took a swooning breath and mumbled, “Oh dear.”

Galo chuckled good-naturedly and returned his hand to its previous spot. He waved graciously. “Please, continue.”

Lio filled his lungs and shook out his head. “Goodness,” he mumbled to himself, his accent coming out in a fluster as he caught Galo’s hand. “You sure are…whew. Something _else_.”

“Thanks. So are you.”

As Lio’s stare bore into Galo’s palm, the man wiggled his fingers briefly. Surprised, Lio chanced a glance at Galo again, only to find his beautiful blue gaze sparkling dangerously. 

And then he winked.

“Blimey.” Too aware that he was being hunted, Lio blushed furiously and busied himself in his work. Abandoning the luffa, he soaped up his own hands and then grabbed Galo’s nearer hand with both of his own. He performed a studious and methodical massage on Galo’s fingers and palm, before scrubbing it with the plastic webbing again.

Galo let him do as he pleased uninterrupted, and in the white noise of the water that followed, he found himself thinking that the experience was rather magical. He didn’t know why—it was just a hand and it wasn’t doing anything—but maybe that was the point. Hands were very quintessentially human. No other species had one just like humans did, and each one was different in so many dimensions that they were all so very personal and individually identifiable. Lio was coming to memorize Galo’s palm as he worked: the creases, the scars, the shape, and it made him feel a mix of things: happy, proud, safe, grounded. Perhaps _accomplished_ was a good word for it, for some strange reason.

But they were also very sensitive and easily damaged things, hands. The human brain was hardwired to protect them; a primate with disabled fingers in the wild was all but guaranteed to die. So to have someone give theirs over so freely, with such trust infused in their gentle touch…

A touch that _welcomed_ a Burnish so…

It made something melt in Lio. Something that he thought had long turned to ash.

Something called connection.

It didn’t hurt, exactly, this feeling in his chest. He was too warm and safe to feel pain. Instead, it felt like something sore had been stretched open. It was an odd feeling, this ache, but a good one. One that portended greater things to come.

“You okay?”

Lio blinked a few times. He was still holding Galo’s hand. He’d probably been staring off into space with it.

“Y-yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking.”

Galo hummed and chased Lio’s attempt to pull away by gently cupping his cheek. Lio followed the touch and looked at him; Galo was smiling fondly and soon added his other hand to the hold. One to each side of Lio’s jaw, he leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

It was slow and gentle and had many parts to it, reminding Lio that they had all the time in the world.

That here, in this man’s arms, he would never have to feel unsafe again.

Lio was panting by the time Galo broke the long string of kisses. The Alpha put his forehead against Lio’s and held him there for a bit.

With the sound of the water in the background and the steady presence of Galo’s hands at the forefront of his senses, the heartbeat in Lio’s ears eventually slowed. Galo smoothed up and down his Omega’s neck heavily a few times, until Lio was doing the same to him. 

Sensing all was well again, Galo let himself be pushed back to his previous reclining spot while Lio came in close. He gazed into Galo’s sky-blue eyes for a moment, then said, probably with a bit too much intensity, “Close your eyes.”

However, Galo did so without fuss, tilting his head back to rest against the tile as a signal of welcome. 

Pleasantly surprised, Lio quickly went to his neck step: he soaped up his hands again and went about washing Galo’s neck, kneading into the thick muscles there. They shimmered and stretched under his hands, and when Galo swallowed, it sent a little thrill through Lio’s soul: It was a reminder, however slight, that this was a living thing under his hands, one that had given itself up to him. Not a machine, or a tool, but a real person that required responsibility. A life that deserved to be protected and cherished, one complex and immutable, that not only _wanted him here_ , but wanted everything he was currently doing _to it_.

Heart thick in his throat, Lio’s hands fluttered onto Galo’s face, gently massaging over the contours with soapy fingertips. He explored him eagerly: his lips. His nose. The lines around his mouth. The course hairs of his brow, and the thin crease lines in his forehead. Up into his hair, where he threaded his fingers over and over just to feel the silky texture on one side and the coarse grain on the other.

When Galo huffed a few times through his nose and his forehead lines seemed to be deepening, Lio reached for a cup that was sitting on the far ledge of the tub, filled it with water, and then said, “Hold still.”

Lio poured the water over him not unlike a naiad with a wine pitcher tending to a drunk satyr, and the thought made him giggle with glee briefly.

He poured smoothly here and there, following the landscape with his divine waterfall, and then went back for more, doing Galo’s neck and chest and arms.

When he got done, he realized that Galo’s eyes were still closed.

He was clearly still attentive, but he was resting with his head tilted back and a charmed smile on his lips, hair plastered to his neck.

It was a view Lio wanted to memorize for all eternity, especially given the ramp of wet abs and pecks in the foreground.

“Can I open my eyes yet?”

Lio gazed over him a moment longer, then, with a smirk, said:

“ _No_.”

“Okay.” Galo shrugged and grinned. He resituated himself a little, sliding down a bit and threading his fingers together behind his neck. It showed off his biceps in a way that was utterly unfair and made Lio get that damnable desire to lick things again.

Which…

Lio’s gaze flicked down between Galo’s legs.

…Yup. He wouldn’t mind one bit, from the looks of things.

The poor guy hadn’t had a raging erection this entire time, luckily for his health, but with Lio all over him in the last few minutes, it was certainly giving it the old college try again. With a dangerous hum, Lio slid down with his legs splayed out, and took one of Galo’s feet in his hands.

Galo made a curious noise in his throat but didn’t object. He let Lio skirt the bubbly luffa up his leg in tiny circles, little by little making excruciating progress up his leg.

But just as he got to the warmth of his thigh, Lio switched to the other leg.

Galo actually _whined_. But with effort, he bit it down.

Lio watched him out of the corner of his eye as he did the same massage to Galo’s toes that he’d done earlier to his fingers, enjoying watching him react: His face contorting with each new feeling; his leg jerked here and there, sending his hopeful cock twitching.

And it would be much too cruel a fate to let that hang there forever. So Lio let himself indulge in a little needy whine himself—the kind that signaled to all the Alphas that there was an Omega in need around—and then started kissing up Galo’s leg.

He started at the inside of his knee, a delicate spot that made Galo shiver—it went all the way up and down his body and set off a shaky sigh too.

Lio nosed into Galo’s thigh, soaking up the warmth with his tongue. Another kiss or two—the space each one landed followed dutifully by his hand massaging Galo’s skin with soap—had the Alpha quickly unwound and panting breathlessly where he lay.

When he came to the mouth of the river, Lio set both palms to Galo’s thighs, pressing them apart. He took his sweet time dipping down, then, just as he knew Galo must be well aware of where his head was and desperately wondering why it hadn’t connected yet, blew out a cool stream of air onto his cock.

The hitch in Galo’s breath was entirely worth it. To make a god like this fall apart with nothing but a breath made Lio’s heart fall all the harder for him.

Galo’s erection was ready for him: red and straining, the vein underneath was throbbing, and the angle was almost fully vertical. And Lio was entirely ready for it too, but he wanted to draw this out a little longer. So he carefully set kisses all around the base of the shaft, twisting this way and that to do so, each one eliciting a shuddering breath out of his captive Alpha.

Finally, when Lio thought he had been tortured enough, he licked his lips and swirled the tip of his tongue around Galo’s slit.

The man actually _barked_ in shock, though perhaps it was more relief than anything. Lio knew that jolt was coming, so as soon as it passed, he dipped down, taking the head of Galo’s girthy cock into his mouth. Galo groaned as wet heat enveloped him; Lio went down as far as he could once just to introduce himself anew and then went to work on the last inch or two, concentrating his attention on the sensitive head.

“Oh _god_ ,” Galo groaned, clearly trying to keep himself still and not entirely managing it. The veins just under the surface of the back of his hands were bulging out as he gripped the sides of the tub, to say nothing of his mastoids as he threw his head back as far as it would go.

Lio’s hands swept with purpose up his Alpha’s thighs and into the sweet spot between his legs, one pressing down and the other gripping the base of his shaft. Soft at first, Lio’s twisting touch slowly deepened, until Galo was actually making sounds a bit like he was in pleasure so intense that it _hurt_.

“Ah. Ah, _Lio_ ,” he heatedly prayed to the ceiling, “like that. Oh, more, _please_. _Please_ keep sucking me off like that—”

Lio did as told, but after all the work Galo had put into the night, he didn’t want the man to come too soon. So when he thought he could get away with it, Lio slowed his rhythm. He sucked more gently, and pushed himself further down than before. It took him a good while—a while that Galo was not at all complaining about—before he was able to get more than halfway down the cock as he bobbed. But he managed it regardless, deeply proud of the fact and enjoying the feel of his mouth and throat being stuffed so full in the meantime.

His hips were in the air as he worked, sitting on top of his folded legs, and he became acutely sensitive again, which in turn just drove him to massage Galo’s cock deeper into his mouth.

Galo, meanwhile, was starting to push up into him. “Lio. Lio, can I open my eyes?”

“No,” Lio managed, for a moment breaking away from his ministrations to gasp for breath. “You will control yourself and you will _like_ it.”

Lio often got imperious when he was feeling rushed, but Galo did not seem to mind. In fact:

“Yessir, sorry sir,” quickly dispatched from the desperate Alpha.

Lio pressed his hands over Galo’s to keep them still, then bent back down to meet Galo’s raging hard-on. When Galo hissed but didn’t move his hips on the next few strokes, his cock quivering in Lio’s mouth as it strained to get more friction, the head desperate to find a blunt end to meet up with, Lio had to break away again to amend his command.

“Galo. Don’t open your eyes.” Then, he took a page out of his book and added: “But otherwise: Use me as you need to, to get off.”

Galo actually sighed in relief. His heaving chest was a beautiful sight, and as a reward for it, Lio guided one of the man’s hands to the back of his head. It went almost all the way around from ear to ear.

“ _Thank you Lio_ ,” he whispered, and it was the most beautiful use of his name he’d ever heard. Warmth from the endearment spread over him, starting at Galo’s palm. As he was guided downward, used over and over again as a backstop to Galo’s powerful thrusts, he couldn’t help but feel fully present in his body for once, and _glad_ to be there.

It was so simple, to be on his knees being used for an Alpha’s pleasure. It was a challenge too, to keep his throat slack and his fluids flowing and his mind gone. But it was a challenge he was meeting with flying colors from the sounds of it, and that made him so _happy_.

So happy he was _purring_.

This was an Alpha that _wanted_ him. That had _claimed_ him. That was _using_ him. And that wasn’t going to let him go, because he was doing so _well_.

So when Galo grabbed the back of his neck and _tensed_ ; when Galo’s hands shuddered around him as he all but _howled_ a feral growl of release; when the Alpha’s massive cock filled his throat, knot and all, and sent wave after wave of hot liquid into his body, Lio Fotia was not at all afraid.

No, he was happy, and content, and warm.

So when Galo finally released him, having gone soft in his mouth with his knot half deflated, Lio sighed almost forlornly. Galo was still holding him by the back of the neck and head, pressing him against his pelvis. Lio rested his cheek against the soft blue hairs, drinking in the heady scents and letting the calming waves of stimulation overtake him as he curled up in the space between Galo’s legs.

_Oh Galo,_ Lio thought as he closed his eyes, _I love you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Galo chuckled good-naturedly and returned his hand to its previous spot. He waved graciously, **in a way that was decidedly reminiscent of Kray Foresight on his good days.** “Please, continue.”_  
>   
> ;D
> 
> ~~I doubt Annie's still reading this but we finally got to the hair washing ;--;~~
> 
> And now, a little political journaling (feel free to skip if that bothers you):
> 
> Happy holidays and even happier Democratic presidency / end to overt fascism! *waves little star-spangled flags* Thanks Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Mexico, Michigan, Wisconsin, people who voted blue in red states, and of course all the regular Blue Wall crew. <3 I'm not super into Biden, but I couldn't post this without saying that the fact that I added two chapters in two weeks was helped in no small part by the promise of the political shift, an addressing of climate change, and the lifting of the doom cloud that brings. Keep fighting the good fight, never lose faith, and always dance (and vote) when you get a reason to. Peace out until next time!


End file.
